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CHARLES  H.  GRASTY 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1918 


N^18J 


c)  1 


Copyright,  1918,  by 
The  Century  Co. 


Copyright,  1918,  by 
Thi  N»w  York  Times  Cobp*iit 


Published,  May,  1918 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Message  fkom  Geneeal  Pershing     ....      .     ix 
Introduction xi 

CHAPTER 

I     Exit  Asquith  :  Enter  Lloyd  George     .      .       3 

II     President   Wilson's   Proposals:    Europe's 

Reception  of  Peace  Without  Victory  .      10 

III  A  Lincoln-Day  Message  to  America  from 

THE  Rt.  Hon.  David  Lloyd  George  .      .  27 

IV  Glimpses  at  the  Front 31 

V     The  Flight  from  Berlin  Home  with  Ge- 
rard          51 

VI  American  Men  of  the  War       ....  63 

VII     French  Men  of  the  War 77 

VIII  The  British  Men  of  the  War  ....  105 

IX     To  Europe  with  Pershing 143 

X     Our  Army  in  France 153 

XI     The  Agony  of  France 168 

XII     In  Switzerland 179 

XIII  A  Corner  op  Alsace  Reconquered  .      .      .  222 

XrV     To  the  Rescue  of  Italy 241 

XV     Great  Britain  at  Bay 255 

XVI     The  Nivelle  Offensive 283 

XVII     In  Conclusion 297 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Charles  H.  Grasty        .      , Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Crossing  the  Channel 48 

British  Troops  Disembarking  at  a  French  Port       .       49 
Arrival  of  General  Pershing  at  Boulogne-Sur-Mer  .      49 

The  Fo'c'sle  of  a  British  Battleship 128 

A  British  Battleship  Taking  in  Oil  Fuel  at  Sea  .      .   129 

The  To\^^l  Hall  at  Peronne 160 

At  Bapaume     ...........    161 

Inconnu r. •   192 

A  Soldier's  Cemetery 193 

British  Tanks 224 

With  the  British  Troops  in  France— A  Night  Picket  225 
Shipbuilding  on  the  Clyde  .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .260 

A  Shipyard  on  the  Clyde 261 

A  British  Battleship  at  Night       .      .      .      .      .      .292 

Captain  Guynemer       .....     ,.      .      .      •   293 

The  Ulustrations  to  this  book  are  lent  to  The  Century  Co.,  by  the  British 
Government. 


MESSAGE  FROM 
GENERAL  PERSHING 

This  great  war  is  teaching  new  things  every  day. 
War  on  such  a  scale  affords  unprecedented  oppor- 
tunity for  originality.  While  methods  change, 
human  character  remains,  and  other  things  being 
equal,  character  will  decide  the  last  battle. 

This  war  found  us  as  a  nation  nakedly  unpre- 
pared, but  our  people  had  the  stamina,  the  moral 
sense,  the  instinct  for  the  light  and  the  right.  It  is 
a  fine  thing  to  us  soldiers  in  the  service  to  look 
toward  home  and  see  a  mighty  people  responding 
to  the  call  of  idealism,  turning  nobly  toward  duty 
in  the  splendid  spirit  expressed  in  the  phrase  the 
"utmost  for  the  highest."  We  may  make  mistakes 
here  and  there  in  this  detail  or  in  that,  but  we  have 
the  practical  mind,  and  with  each  new  experience 
we  shall  move  to  a  higher  level  of  excellence. 

Of  the  human  material  that  America  is  sending 
to  this  war  I  can  speak  with  exactness.  It  is  the 
best,  and  with  enough  of  such  material  there  can 
be  no  doubt  of  America's  showing.  I  have  always 
had  only  one  opinion  of  American  soldiers,  and  that 
opinion  has  been  more  than  confirmed  in  France. 
Given  the  opportunity,   the  American  Army  in 


X      MESSAGE  FROM  GEN.  PERSHING 

France  will  fulfill  the  best  that  has  been  expected 
of  it. 

The  history  of  this  war  cannot  be  written  without 
the  perspective  that  time  alone  can  give.  In  the 
meanwhile  such  chronicles  as  the  author  has 
presented  supply  the  public  with  current  infor- 
mation and  preserve  a  useful  record  for  the  his- 
torian. The  exceptional  opportunities  of  observa- 
tion enjoyed  by  the  author  will  make  this  volume 
one  of  the  best  among  contemporary  publications 
on  the  war. 


INTRODUCTION! 

[I  asked  my  friend  Mr,  Colvin,  who  is  a  master  craftsman 
in  editorial,  or  "leader/  writing,  and  whose  pen,  as  all  who 
read  the  "Morning  Post"  know,  is  incapable  of  dullness,  to 
make  an  introduction  for  despatches  that  through  the  generous 
courtesy  of  the  "New  York  Times"  and  the  venturesome  en- 
terprise of  the  Century  Company  are  here  published  in  book 
form.  I  hardly  hoped  for  an  essay  in  his  best  vein  presenting 
his  favorite  doctrines  for  the  serious  consideration  of  America. 
But  he  has  evidently  seized  the  occasion  to  challenge  a  school 
of  politico-economic  thought  in  America  the  ideas  of  which 
were  very  largely  drawn  from  the  British  policy  upon  which 
Mr.  Colvin  makes  so  spirited  an  attack.  To  that  school  of 
tariff  reform — a  term  that  means  in  America  precisely  the 
opposite  of  what  it  does  in  England — I  myself  belong.  While 
I  disagree  with  much  that  Mr.  Colvin  says  on  this  head,  I  am 
glad  to  afford  him  a  medium  through  which  he  may  present  a 
group  of  contentions  constituting  a  protest  that  is  likely  to 
shake,  if  not  to  change,  the  existing  economic  order  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  The  standpoint  which  Mr.  Colvin  has  chosen  ap- 
peals almost  irresistibly  to  the  conservative  temperament,  as 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

we  have  seen  in  America,  where  the  protective  system  has  long 
stood  against  attack.  My  good  friend  will  find  himself  in 
highly  respectable  company  in  the  United  States. — C.  H.  G.] 

Two  j^ears  or  so  before  you  Americans  entered 
this  great  war,  my  good  friend  Mr.  Grasty  used 
to  drop  into  my  office.  It  was  at  a  time  when 
American  life  seemed  pretty  cheap,  and  I  'm  afraid 
we  used  to  chaff  Mr.  Grasty  about  the  dollar  value 
of  American  citizenship.  "What  are  American 
lives  worth  to-day?"  we  would  say,  and  we  re- 
marked that  American  honor  was  like  American 
oil:  it  was  no  doubt  clear  and  bright,  but  with  a 
high  flash-point.  Mr.  Grasty  took  it  all  in  very 
good  part.  Although  American  citizens  were  hav- 
ing rather  a  rough  time  in  Europe  in  those  days 
he  was  always  cheerful,  always  smiling,  and  always 
confident.  "That's  all  right,"  he  would  say;  "my 
country  is  all  right.  We  will  come  in  in  our  own 
time.  Let  them  pile  it  up."  A  phrase  that  he 
used  stuck  in  my  memory :  "The  President  is  try- 
ing to  get  into  the  war  with  a  united  country  behind 
him.  He  will  break  with  Germany  when  he  can 
do  no  otherwise." 

Well,  Mr.  Grasty  turned  out  to  be  a  good  prophet 
on  his  own  country.  He  never  wavered  in  his  faith 
that  his  country  would  vindicate  the  honor  of  its 
sovereignty.  He  beheved  in  the  Allied  cause  and 
he  believed  that  his  fellow-citizens  believed  in  it. 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

He  knew  that  his  President  understood  the  interest 
and  honor  of  America  and  the  issues  at  stake  in 
the  war.  And  the  fact  that  in  all  these  things  he 
turned  out  to  be  right  is  to  me  at  least,  a  sufficient 
recommendation  for  this  book. 

Now  that  he  has  asked  me  to  write  an  intro- 
duction to  his  little  volume  of  Day-by-Day  De- 
spatches, I  think  it  only  right  to  do  my  best  ta 
"put  you  wise,"  as  Mr.  Grastj^  would  say,  on  the 
war  as  we  see  it  over  here.  There  has  been  a  good 
deal  too  much  flattery  and  a  good  deal  too  much 
rhetoric,  too  many  resounding  phrases,  too  many 
plausible  catchwords  in  the  declarations  and  mani- 
festos of  the  Allies.  I  am  not  one  of  those  who 
believe  that  the  war  is  merely  a  vindication  of  the 
rights  of  small  nations  or  that  its  object  is  to  make 
the  world  safe  for  democracy,  or  that  it  is  going 
to  end  war,  or  that  it  is  going  to  lead  to  a  league  of 
nations  in  which  the  Prussian  wolf  will  lie  down 
contented  and  happy  on  equal  terms  with  the  Bel- 
gian lamb.  All  these  phrases  may  have  their  value 
for  what  you  in  America,  I  believe,  call  "spell- 
binding," but  they  are  confusing  and  irritating  to 
a  plain  man.  Much  better  get  right  down  to  the 
bed-rock  of  facts! 

And  the  bed-rock,  as  we  now  see  it  over  here, 
is  that  the  Allied  nations  are  fighting  for  their 
existence.  In  the  nineteenth  century  Germany 
had  made  herself  so  strong  by  war  and  by  industrial 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

and  economic  organization  that  it  seemed  possible 
to  her  to  conquer  and  possess  the  whole  world. 
It  was  not  a  new  idea  with  the  German  people; 
on  the  contrary,  it  was  an  idea  so  old  that  almost 
everybody  except  the  Germans  had  forgotten  all 
about  it.  But  let  us  remember  that  the  Germans 
are  great  students  of  history,  and  that  the  Ger- 
man idea  of  history  is  that  Germany  succeeded  to 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  The  Germans  sacked 
Rome  and  set  the  imperial  crown  on  the  German 
brow.  The  Germans  maintained  that  crown  for 
many  centuries.  All  through  the  Middle  Ages  the 
German  princes  struggled  for  the  honor  of  being 
elected  not  kings  of  Germany,  but  kings  of  Rome. 
When  they  were  elected  kings  of  Rome  by  their 
own  people  they  made  their  triumphal  march  over 
the  Alps  and  were  crowned  emperors  by  the  pope. 
If  the  pope  ever  quarreled  with  this  arrangement, 
they  carried  fire  and  sword  into  the  plains  of 
Lombardy  and  threatened  Rome  itself.  The  pope 
was  sometimes  a  prisoner  of  the  emperor,  and  the 
papal  policy  was  often  dictated  by  the  imperial 
diet. 

It  is  interesting,  also,  to  remember  that  this 
political  supremacy  of  what  we  might  call  "Ger- 
mandom,"  had  its  economic  side.  Does  the  Ameri- 
can public,  which,  I  am  told,  reads  history  a  good 
deal,  realize  that  all  through  the  Middle  Ages  the 
German    merchants    governed    the    commerce    of 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

Europe?  The  Hanseatic  League  is  now  only  a 
vague  name ;  yet  at  one  time  it  exercised  a  real  and 
absolute  sway  from  Iceland  to  Venice,  from 
Novgorod  to  London.  And  what  was  the  Han- 
seatic League?  It  called  itself  "The  Society  of 
German  Merchants  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire." 
The  imperial  eagle  was  quartered  on  its  coat  of 
arms:  it  was  represented  in  the  imperial  diet,  and 
its  motto  was  a  motto  of  world  power:  "Mein 
Feld  ist  die  Welt"  my  field  is  the  world. 

It  was  an  organization  of  some  seventy  German 
cities ;  Liibeck  the  chief,  and  after  Liibeck,  Dantzic, 
Hamburg,  Cologne,  which  founded  its  power  on  the 
monopoly  of  the  shipping  materials  of  the  Baltic, 
and  the  Russian  trade.  No  ships  could  be  built  in 
northern  Europe  without  the  maritime  stores  which 
came  from  ports  and  teiTitories  controlled  by  the 
Hanseatic  League.  If  the  King  of  England 
wanted  a  fl^eet,  he  had  to  buy  it  from  Liibeck,  and 
English  policy  was  dictated  by  those  who  ruled  the 
sea.  There  was  a  time  when  the  Hanseatic  League 
virtually  governed  England.  The  extent  of  its 
power  is  shown  by  the  privileges  it  possessed.  The 
Germans  had  in  their  keeping  one  of  the  gates  of 
London.  They  had  fortified  wharves  on  the 
Thames,  and  fortified  warehouses  known  to  medi- 
eval England  as  the  Steelyard.  They  had  the  right 
to  import  and  export  goods  on  a  special  tariff  not 
only  lower  than  the  tariff  paid  by  all  other  foreign- 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

ers,  but  lower  than  the  tariff  paid  by  Englishmen 
themselves.  They  were  free  from  internal  tax- 
ation, and  they  were  superior  to  English  law. 
They  had  their  own  courts  to  try  causes  between 
them  and  the  natives  of  England.  As  they  con- 
trolled all  the  metals,  including  silver,  then  the  cur- 
rency of  Europe,  the  kings  of  England  were  usu- 
ally in  their  debt,  and  we  know  that  the  borrower 
is  the  servant  of  the  lender.  They  used  this  su- 
premacy to  dictate  the  policy  of  England,  and  when 
their  demands  became  too  extortionate,  they  block- 
aded English  ports  and  stopped  English  commerce. 
England  at  that  time  was  a  poor  country  exporting 
only  wool  and  a  rough,  undressed  cloth  to  Flanders. 
This  foreign  commerce  was  ahnost  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  German  merchants.  There  is  in  existence 
a  letter  from  a  representative  of  the  Hanseatic 
League  in  London  "to  the  Worshipful  Senate  of 
Liibeck,"  in  which  he  speaks  quite  truly  of  the  realm 
of  England  as  "under  the  thumb  of  the  Hanseatic 
towns." 

How  England  freed  herself  from  this  German 
domination  would  be  a  long  story,  and  it  would 
take  me  beyond  the  scope  of  this  introduction.  I 
should  have  to  tell  how  English  merchants  organ- 
ized themselves  on  national  lines,  and  how  they 
established  relations  with  Russia  by  way  of  Arch- 
angel, and  how  they  sent  out  their  httle  ships  to 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

explore  Newfoundland  and  Virginia  for  timber  and 
turpentine  and  other  naval  stores. 

You  may  read  part  of  the  story  in  Hakluyt's 
"Voyages."  Thus,  for  example.  Captain  Christo- 
pher Carlile  in  his  "briefs  and  summary  discourse 
upon  the  intended  voyage  to  the  hithermost  parts 
of  America,"  which  he  wrote  in  April,  1583,  gives 
as  one  of  his  reasons  why  the  voyage  should  be 
made: 

The  badde  dealings  of  the  Easterlings  [that  is,  Hanseatics] 
are  sufficiently  known  to  be  such  towards  our  merchants  of 
that  trade  [the  trade  with  Russia  and  the  Baltic]  as  they 
do  not  only  offer  them  many  inj  uries  over  long  to  bee  written ; 
but  doe  seek  all  the  meanes  they  can,  to  deprive  them  wholly 
of  their  occupying  that  way:  and  to  the  same  purpose  have 
of  late  cleane  debarred  them  their  accustomed  and  ancient 
privileges  in  all  their  great  townes.^ 

I  should  also  have  to  tell  how  the  Hanseatic 
League  provided  the  Spanish  Armada  with  ship's 
tackling  and  munitions  of  war  in  order  to  defeat 
the  national  policy  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  reduce 
England  to  her  old  position  of  economic  servitude 
to  the  German  Empire ;  and  how  our  English  mer- 
chants helped  Queen  Elizabeth  and  our  Enghsh 
Navy  to  defeat  that  great  conspiracy.  German 
sea  power  had  grown  great  by  a  monopoly  of  the 
Baltic;  English  sea  power  gi'ew  great  by  adventur- 

1  Hakluyt's  "Voyages"  (1904  edition),  Vol.  VIII,  p.  135. 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

ing  to  Newfoundland  and  Virginia ;  and  in  the  end 
the  Atlantic  defeated  the  North  Sea,  or  as  it  used 
to  be  called,  the  German  Ocean. 

Thus  the  birth  of  America  is  directly  connected 
with  this  old  and  forgotten  struggle  between  Ger- 
man and  English  commerce.  The  power  and 
wealth  drawn  from  the  West  broke  the  Hanseatic 
domination,  and  Germany  went  down  in  the  revolu- 
tion and  ruin  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  For  two 
centuries  Germany  hardly  counted  as  a  great  power. 
"Germany,"  said  Bismarck  in  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  "is  only  now  recovering  from 
the  Thirty  Years'  War."  And  Friedrich  List, 
whose  writings  are  well  known  in  America,  wrote 
about  1840  of  Germany  as  a  country  completely 
under  the  commercial  domination  of  England. 
But  Germany  had  not  forgotten  her  history.  She 
had  not  forgotten  her  old  motto  "Mein  Feld  ist  die 
Welt."  She  had  not  forgotten  that  she  had  once 
ruled  England,  and  that  England  had  broken  her 
ancient  power.  And  she  had  not  forgotten  that 
the  strength  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  lay  as  much 
in  America  as  in  England.  It  would  be  too  long 
a  business  to  trace  step  by  step  the  rebirth  and 
growth  of  the  German  Empire.  After  all,  it  is 
a  story  well  enough  known.  Wars  with  Denmark, 
with  Austria,  and  with  France  reestablished  the 
power  of  the  German  sword.  The  Zollverein  and 
the  organization  of  great  metal  and  electrical  indus- 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

tries  created  a  new  Hanseatic  League  far  more 
powerful  than  the  old.  He  who  is  master  of  steel 
is  master  of  the  world  if  he  knows  how  to  use  it; 
and  Germany,  who  knew  how  to  use  it,  before  the 
war  produced  more  steel  than  England,  France, 
and  Russia  put  together.  It  was  not,  taking  their 
history  and  position  into  account,  so  unreasonable 
for  the  German  to  suppose  that  they  might  again 
live  up  to  the  old  Hanseatic  motto,  "Mein  Feld  ist 
die  Weltr 

It  was  not  to  be  done  at  a  stroke.  France  must 
first  be  knocked  out  as  a  military  power.  Russia 
must  be  either  defeated  or  squared.  Germany 
must  command  more  ports  on  the  North  Sea. 
When  she  had  established  her  supremacy  in  Europe, 
then  was  the  time  to  deal  with  England  and  after 
England,  America. 

In  the  years  before  the  war  we  might  trace  the 
development  of  this  policy.  Russia  was  pushed 
into  a  war  with  Japan  in  order  to  divert  Russian 
military  power  from  the  German  border  to  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  when  Russia  was  in  difficulties, 
Germany  took  the  opportunity  of  fixing  upon  her 
a  commercial  treaty  that  gave  Germany  the  whole 
of  the  Russian  market.  In  the  meantime  a  vast 
network  of  railways  was  being  got  ready  for  the 
attack  upon  France,  and  as  a  preliminary,  Belgium 
was  penetrated  in  every  direction  by  German 
agents.    Wliile  Germany  was  building  her  fleet, 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

England  was  being  beguiled  and  seduced  by  atten- 
tions and  flatteries.  Everything  was  done  that 
could  be  done,  sometimes  by  flatteries  and  some- 
times by  threats,  to  separate  England  from  France 
and  to  secure  at  least  English  neutrality  if  not 
English  friendship.  Let  me  give  one  example  out 
of  many: 

At  the  end  of  October,  1912,  there  was  a  well 
organized  peace  conference  of  Germans,  Anglo- 
Germans,  and  English  friends  of  Germany,  held 
at  the  Guildliall  in  London.  One  of  the  principal 
speakers  was  Ilerr  Hermann  Hecht  of  Berlin,  who 
delivered  a  lecture  to  prove  that  it  was  to  the  in- 
terest of  England  to  throw  in  her  lot  with  Germany 
against  America.  England  and  Germany,  he  said, 
should  stand  together  to  meet  the  danger  that  comes 
from  the  United  States,  whose  rapidly  developing 
industries  had  become  a  menace  to  both  countries. 

I  need  not  disguise  from  you  that  at  that  time 
there  was  a  party  in  England,  as  there  was  a  party 
in  France,  which  preached  submission  to  Germany 
as  the  best  and  safest  poHcy.  Mr.  J.  A.  Spender, 
the  editor  of  the  "Westminster  Gazette,"  wrote  a 
series  of  articles  to  prove  that  England  could  secure 
peace  with  Germany  on  certain  conditions.  Among 
these  conditions  were  these,  that  England  should 
never  have  a  large  army  and  that  she  should  guar- 
antee Germany  perpetual  free  trade  in  English 
markets. 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

These  conditions  bring  us  face  to  face  with 
the  economic  question.  And  the  economic  question 
is  the  key  to  the  whole  war.  When  Mr.  Spender 
proposed  that  Germany  should  have  perpetual  free 
trade  in  England  as  a  condition  of  peace,  he  pro- 
posed nothing  less  than  the  abdication  of  British 
sovereignty.  He  proposed  that  England  should 
become  an  annex  of  Germany's  industrial  system, 
and  that  the  British  Empire  itself,  as  far  as  its 
economic  policy  could  be  controlled  by  the  Central 
Government,  should  also  be  part  of  the  German 
economic  power.  If  this  design  had  been  carried 
out,  and  it  was  in  the  way  of  being  carried  out, 
Germany  would  have  based  her  military  power  on 
the  whole  wealth  and  resources  of  a  British  Empire 
enslaved  to  her  interests,  and  would  have  become 
as  an  industrial  power,  the  equal,  if  not  the  superior, 
of  the  United  States.  The  Germans  had  already 
gone  some  way  upon  this  road.  Almost  every 
British  industry  was  penetrated  by  German  influ- 
ence. It  was  a  curious  swing  of  the  pendulum. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
British  trade  interests  were  supreme  in  almost  every 
German  city.  Hamburg  was  a  depot  of  the 
English  cloth  trade,  and  there  was  a  quarter  in 
Berlin  called  "Petty  Manchester."  In  1914,  upon 
the  eve  of  this  great  war,  there  was  a  quarter  in 
Manchester  which  might  have  been  called  "Petty 
Berlin."     Bradford,    the    center    of   the    English 


xxii  INTRODUCTION 

woolen  trade,  was  full  of  Germans.  London  was 
so  much  under  the  thumb  of  German  finance  that 
when  the  war  broke  out  one  German  magnate  had 
to  be  naturalized  in  order  to  save  British  credit. 
The  Deutsche  Bank  had  an  office  in  which  it  em- 
ployed no  less  than  four  hundred  clerks,  its  princi- 
pal business  being  to  secure  German  savings  to  fin- 
ance German  industries.  Other  German  banks 
were  almost  as  strongly  represented.  The  metal 
exchange  had  become  almost  a  German  monopoly, 
Germany  controlled  the  spelter  and  the  copper 
which  was  mined  in  the  British  Empire.  Germany 
was  strong  in  the  English  coal  trade,  and  had  al- 
ready begun  to  buy  up  Welsh  coal-mines.  German 
shipping  had  forced  its  way  into  the  British  con- 
ferences. Australia  supplied  Germany  with  her 
metals.  South  Africa  with  her  wool,  India  with  her 
hides  and  jute.  No  difference  was  made  whether 
they  went  to  Germany  or  England,  although  the 
Germans  were  ahnost  openly  using  this  wealth  to 
forge  a  hammer  with  which  to  break  the  British 
Empire  in  pieces.  In  every  British  city  there  was 
an  influential  party,  small  perhaps  in  numbers,  but 
strong  in  wealth,  that  was  bound  to  German  in- 
terests by  something  stronger  than  sentiment — 
* 'Where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be 
also." 

Besides  the  Germans  themselves,  naturalized  and 
unnaturalized,    who    formed    centers    of    German 


INTRODUCTION  xxiii 

propaganda,  those  Englishmen  who  lived  by  the 
German  trade  were  blind  to  the  German  danger. 
They  were  not  only  blind ;  they  considered  it  a  ben- 
efit. An  enemy  who  put  money  into  their  pockets 
was  no  enemy  to  them.  They  grew  fat  on  the 
danger  that  threatened  their  countrymen.  And 
they  were  more  than  reconciled,  they  rejoiced  in 
the  approaching  supremacy  of  the  German  indus- 
trial system. 

You  in  America  do  not  quite  understand  this 
danger,  because  you  are  protected  by  a  high  tariff 
wall  in  which  your  industries  grow  up  strong  and 
secure.  Generally  speaking,  the  German  who  goes 
to  America  must  become  an  American.  He  must 
throw  in  his  lot  with  you.  He  cannot  be  merely 
an  advance  agent  for  a  German  industry.  Your 
tariff  prevents  it.  When  he  comes  to  you  he  must 
bring  with  him  the  sum  of  his  energies  and  his  cap- 
ital, and  he  must  plant  his  industry  on  American 
soil.  In  England  it  is  different  owing  to  our  lack 
of  protection.  The  German  in  England  is  the  for- 
warding agent  of  Germany.  He  remains  a  Ger- 
man, not  only  a  German  in  blood,  but  a  German  in 
interest.  That  is  a  difference  between  protection 
and  free  trade  which  economists  have  not  observed. 
It  is  a  vital  difference  nevertheless. 

This  German  party  in  England  had  its  reflection 
in  British  politics.  I  may  say  without  exaggera- 
tion that  it  controlled  the  British  Government  in 


xxiv  INTKODUCTION 

the  nine  years  before  the  war.  Joseph  Cham- 
berlain in  his  tariff-reform  movement  had  what  was 
in  essence  a  nat^nal  movement  to  protect  England 
against  this  German  danger.  It  was  never  so  de- 
scribed. Indeed,  those  who  took  part  in  it  did  not 
realize  the  object  of  their  own  crusade.  Cham- 
berlain always  placed  his  movement  on  the  lower 
ground  of  increasing  British  wealth.  It  might 
have  been  better  if  he  had  placed  it  on  the  higher 
ground  of  protecting  British  nationality.  But 
Chamberlain  had  the  limitations  of  his  class  and 
upbringing,  and  he  was  disaraied  at  the  very  be- 
ginning, or  so  I  am  told,  by  a  telegram  which  he 
received  from  the  German  Emperor,  who  congrat- 
ulated him  on  his  policy  and  wished  him  success.  It 
was  a  move  which  showed  that  the  Germans  well 
understood  Chamberlain's  friendly  and  unsuspicious 
character,  and  nothing  could  have  been  better  cal- 
culated to  take  the  sting  and  fire  out  of  the  national 
uprising. 

But  in  Chamberlain's  time  the  German  danger 
was  neither  so  great  nor  so  obvious  as  it  afterwards 
became.  It  advanced  in  giant  strides  when  the 
Liberal  party  took  up  the  German  cause.  I  have 
said  enough  to  show  that  the  German  cause  in 
England  is  the  cause  of  free  trade,  that  is  to  say, 
a  cause  which  is  willing  to  acquiesce  in  the  free  entry 
of  German  manufactures  while  Germany  main- 
tains her  tariff  on  British  manufactures. 


INTRODtrCTlON  xxv 

Why  did  the  Liberal  party  take  up  the  German 
cause?  I  am  not  prepared  to  swear.  It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  guess-work  and  suspicion.  But  the  fact  re- 
mains that  they  fought  in  the  cause  of  Germany 
with  an  ardor  and  a  skill  which,  if  it  had  been  used 
against  Germany,  would  have  given  us  the  victory 
long  ago.  The  common  explanation  is  the  party- 
fund  system.  Democrac}^  is  to  the  party  sj^stem, 
what  religion  is  to  the  average  man — he  worships 
it  on  Sunday  and  follows  his  own  interests  all  the 
rest  of  the  week.  The  chief  interest  of  a  political 
party  is  to  get  into  power,  and  in  England  that 
interest  cannot  be  served  without  a  plentiful  supply 
of  money.  It  is  calculated  that  a  general  election 
costs  one  million  pounds  sterling,  a  capital  value 
which  is  represented  in  interest  by  the  salaries  of 
ministers  and  offices  given  to  friends  and  a  policy 
calculated  to  benefit  supporters.  It  is  obvious  that 
a  milhon  pounds  sterhng  does  not  come  out  of  the 
air,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  great  German  indus- 
tries represented  in  England  either  by  German  or 
English  men,  supplied  a  certain  proportion  of  this 
party  fund.  They  were  fairly  safe  in  so  doing, 
because  in  this  country  a  party  fund  is  a  secret  fund. 
It  is  in  the  hands  of  one  man.  It  is  never  publicly 
audited,  I  believe  it  is  not  even  secretly  audited. 
There  are  no  books  kept,  or  at  least  no  books  open 
to  the  public.  Even  the  political  chief  of  the  part\^ 
does  not  know  how  the  money  comes  or  how  it  is 


xxvi  INTRODUCTION 

administered.  It  is  considered  safer  and  more  re- 
spectable not  to  inquire.  Thus  it  comes  about  that 
an  English  prime  minister  may  be  expansively 
ignorant  that  he  is  betraying  his  own  country,  and 
that  the  price  of  betrayal  is  either  in  his  own  pocket 
or  in  the  pockets  of  his  friends. 

Besides  the  German  interests  in  the  Liberal 
Party,  there  were  other  British  interests  which  sup- 
ported the  free  trade  system.  The  great  cotton 
industry  of  Manchester  considered  itself  fully  pro- 
tected by  the  moisture  of  its  climate  and  the  skill 
and  low  wages  of  its  operators.  It  existed  upon 
fine  calculations,  and  considered  that  if  the  loaf 
went  up  a  halfpenny,  it  might  not  be  able  to  sur- 
vive. Then  there  was  the  great  coal  industry. 
The  English  coal  owner  was  naturally  protected. 
No  one  wanted  to  dump  coal  on  this  country,  and 
his  whole  interest  lay  in  exporting  a  valuable  raw 
material  to  Germany.  It  did  not  matter  to  him 
that  his  raw  material  was  used  by  Germany  as  the 
basis  of  a  thousand  manufactures  that  all  added  to 
German  power  and  helped  to  enslave  British  in- 
dustry. In  particular,  the  key  industry  of  Ger- 
many, aniline  dyes,  was  based  largely  on  British 
coal  and  was  an  important  factor  in  the  dependence 
of  even  the  British  manufacturer  upon  the  German 
industrial  system.  And  there  was  the  shipping 
industry,  well  content  to  make  profits  by  carrying 
German  manufactures.     Then  there  was  a  vast  vot- 


INTRODUCTION  xxvii 

ing  population  known  vaguely  to  the  economist 
as  the  consumers,  the  clerks  and  people  with  small 
fixed  incomes  who  were  easily  persuaded  that  their 
chief  interest  in  life  lay  in  cheapness.  These  in- 
terests and  this  mass  of  population  were  all  taught 
to  believe  that  nothing  mattered  except  our  daily 
bread.  As  long  as  it  came  into  their  mouths  there 
was  no  need  to  worry  about  the  dangers  of  war 
and  the  menace  of  German  domination.  Indeed 
the  politicians  persuaded  them  that  the  Germans 
were  innocent  and  kind  people  who  never  dreamed 
of  killing  a  fly,  much  less  of  designing  an  injury  to 
a  friendly  neighbor.  As  long  as  we  did  not  stand 
in  the  way  of  Germany,  as  long  as  we  gave  her  a 
free  hand  in  Turkey  and  the  near  East  and  in 
central  Africa,  and  as  long,  above  all,  as  we  main- 
tained free  trade,  we  might  be  quite  sure  that  the 
German  Emperor  would  do  us  no  harm. 

Such  was  the  theoiy  of  the  Liberal  party  in  Eng- 
land. But  in  practice  there  were  obstacles.  There 
was,  first  of  all,  the  awkward  fact  that  Germany 
was  building  a  very  large  fleet,  and  that  her  su- 
premacy in  the  steel  trade  gave  her  the  power  to 
build  at  an  ever-increasing  ratio.  Then,  there  was 
the  awkward  fact  that  Germany  was  pushing  us 
out  in  many  old  spheres  of  interest,  in  South  Amer- 
ica, in  Turkey,  and  in  Africa.  Above  all,  there 
was  the  awkward  fact  that  our  manufacturers  who 
would  not  be  soothed  by  any  sleeping  mixture,  were 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION 

constantly  agitating  for  protection.  All  these  irri- 
tants kept  England  but  half  awake.  Englishmen 
slumbered  uneasily,  despite  Admiral  Fisher's  assur- 
ance that  they  might  sleep  safely  in  their  beds. 
The  little  alarm-clock  made  in  Germany  was  always 
going  off.  There  was  something  wrong  with  the 
works  that  made  it  ring  at  all  sorts  of  inconvenient 
hours.  The  night  before  the  dawn  of  the  war  was 
a  restless  night  for  England.  Even  Lord  Haldane 
confessed  afterwards  that  his  visits  to  Germany  left 
him  very  uneasy  in  his  mind. 

While  British  economic  policy  was  founded  on 
trade,  German  economic  policy  was  founded  on  pro- 
duction. There  was  a  close  alliance  between  the 
German  Government  and  the  great  German  man- 
ufacturers, and  German  foreign  policy  was  merely 
the  application  of  German  economic  policy  to  the 
outside  world.  It  was  inspired  by  two  great  mo- 
tives,— to  secure  markets  for  German  manufactures 
and  raw  materials  for  German  industries.  With 
this  object  Germany  worked  in  South  America,  in 
Africa,  in  Asia  Minor,  in  the  Pacific.  She  ex- 
tracted from  Turkey  and  England  the  great  con- 
cession of  the  Bagdad  Railway.  She  worked  for 
the  control  of  a  great  belt  of  tropical  territory 
across  Africa,  and  inspired  a  campaign  to  secure 
the  Belgian  Congo,  in  which  Sir  Roger  Casement 
and  Mr.  E.  D.  Horel  were  either  consciously  or  un- 
consciously the  agents.     For  this  purpose  also  she 


INTRODUCTION  xxix 

pushed  Russia  into  a  Japanese  war  and,  when 
Russia  was  in  difficulties,  extracted  from  her  a  fa- 
vorable commercial  treaty. 

And  this  policy  inspired  also  her  great  offensive 
in  Europe.  The  object  of  the  offensive  in  Europe 
was  to  square  Russia,  destroy  France,  and  prepare 
for  a  second  offensive  against  the  British  Empire. 
It  may  be  asked  why  Germany  should  bother  about 
attacking  an  empire  in  which  she  enjoyed  such 
privileges  as  have  been  described.  The  answer 
is  that  Germany  never  considered  these  privileges 
secure.  Canada,  Australia,  New  Zealand,  and 
South  Africa  had  all  with  one  accord  protected  their 
industries  and  given  preference  to  British  manu- 
factures, despite  the  dissuasions  and  blandishments 
of  the  British  free  trade  party.  That  was  an  evil 
omen.  Then  there  was  the  constant  threat  of 
Chamberlain's  campaign.  What  if  it  should  be 
successful?  The  prospect  that  British  industries 
should  be  placed  on  the  same  level  as  German  in- 
dustries was  a  thought  intolerable  to  the  German 
statesman.  It  must  be  placed  beyond  doubt,  for 
the  British  Empire  was  vital  to  the  German  indus- 
trial system. 

While  there  was  this  great  economic  temptation, 
there  was  also  a  military  temptation  equally  great. 
Germany  knew  her  own  strength.  She  knew  that 
steel  is  the  master  of  gold  and  that  she  produced 
twice  as  much  steel  as  any  other  country  in  Europe. 


XXX  INTRODUCTION 

She  had  prepared  a  vast  system  of  railways  and 
her  mobihzation  arrangements  were  so  complete 
that  she  could  calculate  upon  a  start  of  several  vital 
days  over  her  enemies.  She  had  thus  in  her  hands, 
the  power  of  surprise,  the  tremendous  weapon  of 
initial  offensive.  Her  arms  and  munition  factories 
were  the  largest  in  the  world.  Her  equipment  of 
heavy  guns  and  machine-guns  was  a  tactical  sur- 
prise prepared  for  her  victims.  She  had  such  a 
network  of  commercial,  industrial,  and  official  spies 
and  agents  in  Russia  that  she  thought,  and  rightly 
thought,  that  she  could  disorganize  the  Russian  mil- 
itary machine.  She  could  put  sand  in  every  cog 
and  a  spoke  in  every  wheel.  She  had  spared  no 
pains  to  make  her  interests  supreme  in  Belgium,  in 
Holland,  and  in  Scandinavia,  and  she  knew  French 
politics  well  enough  to  count  upon  a  good  deal  of 
slackness  and  inefficiency  in  the  French  defensive 
at  least  in  the  beginning  of  the  struggle.  She 
thought  she  had  sufficient  interest  in  England  to 
secure  neutrality  of  the  British  Empire  until  it 
was  too  late  for  England  to  come  to  the  assistance 
of  France. 

Such  were  the  German  calculations,  and  looking 
back  upon  them,  we  are  bound  to  admit  that  they 
were  not  very  far  out.  If  they  failed,  it  was  only 
by  a  hair's  breadth.  None  but  an  Englishman  will 
ever  understand  the  agonized  suspense  of  the  end 
of  July,  1914,  when  the  English  Government  sat 


INTRODUCTION  xxxi 

like  a  child  blowing  at  the  puff-ball  of  a  dandelion 
and  saying  alternately,  "I  will  fight,  I  will  not 
fight."  It  was  a  toss-up ;  or  if  it  was  not  a  toss-up, 
if  it  was  never  uncertain,  the  underlying  causes  of 
certainty  that  England  would  enter  the  war  were 
hidden  from  mortal  eyes.  It  was  deep  in  the  heart 
and  mind  of  the  British  nation,  too  deep  for  poli- 
ticians and  diplomats  to  understand. 

It  will  not  be  thought  that  I  am  descrying  my 
own  country  if  I  exercise  the  privilege  of  every 
Englishman  to  criticize  his  own  Government.  The 
vices  of  the  politician  bring  into  higher  relief  the 
soundness  of  the  British  people.  Now  as  alw^ays 
the  valor  of  British  soldiers  and  British  sailors  re- 
deems the  good  name  of  the  British  nation. 

A  nation,  when  we  consider  it,  is  nothing  but 
nature's  largest  animal.  It  acts  as  England  did 
in  the  summer  of  1914,  upon  instinct.  The  country 
went  into  the  war  not  because  the  statesmen  willed 
it,  but  because  the  nation  willed  it.  And  the  nation 
willed  it  as  a  man  puts  up  his  fist  to  guard  his  face 
from  a  blow.  It  was  an  instinctive  and  involuntary 
movement. 

Of  course  I  shall  be  told  that  England  went 
into  the  war  for  the  neutrality  of  Belgium,  for  a 
punctilio  of  honor.  Honor  is  to  a  nation  what 
good-will  and  credit  are  to  a  merchant,  but  beliind 
the  question  of  honor  there  was  nothing  less  than 
the  existence  of  England  and  the  British  Empire. 


xxxii  INTRODUCTION 

The  independence  of  the  Netherlands  and  Flanders 
has  always  been  the  fu*st  condition  of  British  se- 
curity. Englishmen  in  every  generation  fought 
that  Flanders  might  be  free,  not  because  the  free- 
dom of  Flanders  was  an  end  in  itself,  but  because 
on  the  freedom  of  Flanders  depended  the  freedom 
of  England. 

But  if  we  entered  the  war  instinctively,  our  Gov- 
ernment remained  wedded  to  its  theories  and  to 
its  friends.  It  could  not  quite  forget  the  old  tender 
relations.  It  did  not  want  to  fight  Germany  and 
it  did  not  want  to  knock  Germany  out.  Prince 
Lichnowsky  probably  told  the  truth  in  his  report 
of  his  parting  conversation  with  Sir  Edward  Grey. 
England  was  always  to  be  ready  with  her  good 
offices  to  help  Germany  out  of  the  war.  We  were 
sincerely  sorry  for  Germany.  She  had  made  a 
sad  miscalculation.  She  was  going  to  receive  a 
terrible  defeat.  We  must  not  hit  her  too  hard. 
She  was  a  good  friend  who  had  suddenly  gone  mad. 
She  must  be  kept  off  with  the  point  of  an  umbrella 
until  we  got  her  into  a  strait-waistcoat.  Then  we 
would  lock  her  up  for  six  months  in  a  pleasant 
private  asylum,  and  when  she  had  completely  re- 
covered her  senses  and  her  temper,  she  would  return 
with  an  affectionate  welcome  to  the  bosom  of  the 
European  family. 

But  fortunately  or  unfortunately  for  us,  the  Ger- 
man did  not  look  at  it  in  that  way.     He  had  taken 


INTRODUCTION  xxxiii 

on  more  than  he  had  meant  to  take  on  at  one  time, 
but  he  still  thought  he  had  a  good  fighting  chance, 
and  he  proceeded  to  hit  as  hard  and  as  frequently 
as  ever  he  could,  using  not  only  his  fists  in  the  ap- 
proved British  fashion,  but  his  head,  his  teeth,  and 
his  hobnailed  boots. 

The  full  meaning  of  these  tactics  vv^as  not  at  first 
realized  by  the  British  Government.  We  wakened 
up  to  them  gradually.  At  first,  for  example,  the 
motto  of  England  was  "Business  as  usual."  And 
this  motto  was  so  assiduously  followed  that  we 
neglected  even  to  blockade  Germany,  and  even  per- 
mitted a  passenger  traffic  in  German  reservists  in 
neutral  ships.  There  have  been  many  explanations 
of  the  fact  that  at  least  a  year  after  the  war  began 
there  was  not  even  a  show  of  a  blockade.  The  apol- 
ogists of  the  Asquith  administration  are  good 
enough  to  say  that  you  Americans  prevented  it, 
that  you  insisted  on  driving  your  usual  trade  with 
Germany  through  neutral  countries.  I  have  never 
believed  that  explanation.  If  it  were  true,  it  would 
mean  that  Americans  had  forgotten  their  own  his- 
tory, that  they  had  forgotten,  above  all,  the  teach- 
ings of  their  greatest  naval  authority.  Captain 
Mahan.  It  would  mean  also  that  American  for- 
eign policy  was  so  frivolous  that  in  the  first  part 
of  the  war  America  could  support  one  side  and  in 
the  second  part,  the  other  side.  I  have  not  so  mean 
an  opinion  of  American  statesmen.     If  they  are  in 


xxxiv  INTRODUCTION 

the  war  now,  they  are  in  the  war  because  they  per- 
ceived from  the  beginning  that  Germany  was  a 
menace  to  the  United  States.  But  if  they  per- 
ceived that,  from  the  beginning  they  could  not  have 
been  so  fooHsh  as  to  prevent  England  from  using 
the  chief  weapon  in  her  armory.  A  nation  would 
be  indeed  wanting  in  common  sense  if  she  prevented 
us  from  knocking  out  her  enemy  in  order  to  be  at 
the  trouble  and  expense  of  knocking  out  the  en- 
emy herself. 

And  there  is  another  flaw  in  this  apology.  In 
those  first  years  of  no  blockade  it  was  not  only 
American  goods  that  was  going  into  Germany,  but 
British  goods.  British  cottons,  British  tea,  British 
oil  seeds  and  copra,  British  wool,  were  all  flowing 
into  Holland,  Denmark,  and  Finland  in  such  enor- 
mous quantities  that  every  one  who  had  any  interest 
in  the  matter  must  have  known  that  these  goods 
were  going  not  to  neutral  countries,  but  to  Ger- 
many. If  we  were  engaged  in  that  traffic,  with 
what  face  could  we  ask  America  to  stop  it?  No; 
the  explanation  is  that  we  were  not  at  first  thor- 
oughly in  earnest. 

It  is  the  most  dangerous  thing  in  the  world  to 
go  into  a  fight  without  being  in  earnest  especially 
if  the  other  man  is  in  earnest.  It  paralyzes  every 
effort;  it  weakens  every  blow.  If  you  are  not  in 
earnest  about  war,  in  God's  name  remain  at  peace. 


INTRODUCTION  xxxv; 

That  is  a  motto  which  should  be  written  over  every 
foreign  office. 

I  say  all  this  frankly  and  openly  because  we  are 
in  earnest  now  and  because  it  is  highly  desirable 
that  our  new  ally  should  understand  the  importance 
of  being  in  earnest.  If  you  are  in  earnest,  for- 
give me.  I  only  warn  you  because  I  wish  you  to 
avoid  our  mistakes  and  our  misfortunes.  We  had 
the  means  to  defeat  Germany  in  the  first  two  years 
of  the  war.  We  neglected  those  means,  and  the 
evil  consequences  of  that  neglect  dog  our  footsteps 
to  this  day.  We  are  now  using  every  effort  and 
calling  up  every  man;  if  you  hear  reports  to  the 
contrary,  you  are  not  to  beheve  them.  The  old 
country  is  stripped  bare  of  men,  and  in  every  house 
there  is  mourning;  every  family  has  made  its  su- 
preme sacrifice.  The  sacrifice  is  greater  because 
it  is  late.  In  war,  humanity  to  an  enemy  is  cruelty 
to  yourself.  The  only  way  of  waging  war  is  to 
hit  as  hard  as  ever  you  can  so  as  to  get  the  horrid 
business  over  as  quickly  as  possible.  There  is  an- 
other fallacy  which  has  done  us  a  lot  of  harm,  that 
we  can  arrange  somehow  or  other  a  draw  with  Ger- 
many. There  are  some  fights  in  which  compro- 
mise is  impossible,  and  this  is  one  of  them.  If 
Germany  thinks  she  can  govern  the  world,  we  must 
knock  that  idea  out  of  her  head,  and  it  is  plain 
that  we  cannot  knock  that  idea  out  of  her  head 


xxxvi  INTRODUCTION 

until  she  is  beaten.  If  we  cannot  beat  Germany, 
she  retains  that  idea,  and  will  act  on  it  in  the  future, 
as  she  has  acted  upon  it  in  the  past.  We  came  to 
a  stalemate  peace  with  Napoleon  and  had  to  fight 
him  all  over  again.  If  we  cannot  defeat  Germany, 
Germany  will  in  the  end  defeat  us.  We  must 
keep  that  proposition  firmly  in  front  of  us.  The 
truth  is  the  best  food  for  fighting  on,  and  if  people 
say  we  cannot  defeat  Germany,  they  show  them- 
selves the  sort  of  people  who  mean  to  be  defeated. 
We  could  have  defeated  Germany  before  now  if 
that  sort  of  sentiment  had  not  prevailed  in  the  Al- 
lied councils.  We  began  by  going  all  round  the 
ring  giving  Germany  little  taps.  Flanders  was 
open  to  us,  a  place  for  a  knock-out  blow ;  the  North 
Sea  was  under  our  command,  a  place  for  another 
knock-out  blow.  Instead  of  concentrating  there, 
we  squandered  our  energies  on  Saloniki,  on  Syria, 
on  the  Dardanelles,  on  Mesopotamia.  Victory 
without  tears  was  our  motto;  we  thought  we  could 
run  round  a  circle  before  Germany  could  run  across 
it.  The  ablest  politicians  weakened  the  army  in 
Flanders  in  order  to  strengthen  the  army  at  Salon- 
iki. Then  they  blamed  our  generals  for  not  push- 
ing through.  They  thought  it  easier  to  skip  across 
the  Julian  Alps  by  way  of  Libau  to  Venice  than 
to  break  a  German  line  over  flat  country  near  our 
base  of  supplies.  Yet  if  we  had  concentrated  all 
our   resources   that   we  have   squandered   in   the 


INTRODUCTION  xxxvii 

eastern  adventures  upon  Passchendaele  and  Cam- 
brai,  is  there  any  reasonable  doubt  that  we  should 
have  beaten  Germany  by  now?  Soldiers,  at  least, 
say  that  there  is  none.  If  we  had  shut  off  from 
Germany  every  ton  of  rubber,  every  bale  of  wool 
and  cotton,  every  chest  of  tea,  every  pound  of 
tobacco,  if  we  had  prevented  Denmark  and  Holland 
importing  feeding  stuffs  to  be  turned  into  animal 
fats  in  order  to  feed  Germany,  is  there  any  reason- 
able doubt  that  we  could  have  defeated  Germany  by 
SL  blockade?  Sailors,  at  least,  will  tell  you  that 
there  is  none.  Therefore  do  not  let  us  make  war 
on  the  assumption  that  we  cannot  beat  our  enemy. 
It  is  the  sort  of  assumption  that  comes  true  if  we 
believe  it  and  does  not  come  true  if  we  do  not  be- 
lieve it.  If  we  beheve  it,  we  should  make  peace 
at  once.  For  if  there  is  one  thing  certain  about 
war,  it  is  that  the  side  that  believes  it  cannot  win 
is  going  to  lose.  There  is  still  another  fallacy  that 
may  do  a  deal  of  mischief.  It  is  the  fallacy  that 
this  war  is  going  to  end  war  and  that  mankind  will 
be  turned  into  lambs  by  fighting  like  tigers.  It 
is  a  fallacy  that  has  deluded  every  generation  since 
the  Israelites  dreamed  of  turning  swords  into  plow- 
shares. This  war  may  end  war  or  it  may  not,  but 
seeing  that  war  has  happened  in  every  generation 
since  the  beginning  of  the  world,  it  would  be  folly 
to  calculate  upon  it  as  a  certainty.  As  far  as  we 
may  judge  from  history  and  experience,  the  only 


xxxviii  INTRODUCTION 

security  of  a  nation  has  been  in  its  ability  to  defend 
itself.  The  means  of  defense  are  two,  one  your 
own  power  and  the  other  the  power  of  your  friends. 
Now  we  have  seen  that  the  basis  of  military  power 
is  economic  power  and  that  a  nation  can  hardly  be 
said  to  be  strong  or  even  independent  unless  it  has 
a  healthy  industrial  system.  If  England  had 
possessed  a  healthy  industrial  system,  there  would 
be  no  war  now.  It  was  the  dependence  of  England 
upon  German  industry  that  encouraged  German 
statesmen  to  believe  that  England  could  not  go  to 
war.  This  dependence  was  the  result  of  a  policy 
that  left  English  markets  open  to  the  German  man- 
ufacturer, while  German  markets  were  closed  to 
the  British  manufacturer.  The  British  Samson 
had  his  hair  cut  while  he  lay  asleep  in  the  lap  of 
free-trade  Delilah,  and  he  will  be  lucky  if  he 
escapes  the  punishment  of  such  neglect,  which  is 
to  grind  corn,  blind  and  in  chains,  for  the  bread 
of  the  Philistines.  But  unless  British  industries 
regain  their  native  wealth  and  strength,  the  future 
of  England  will  resemble  her  remote  past,  and  she 
will  again  be  the  hewer  of  wood  and  the  drawer 
of  water,  the  annex  and  dependent  of  the  German 
industrial  and  political  system.  The  idea  of  a 
league  of  nations  is  nothing  more  than  the  old 
aspiration  of  the  first  German  Empire,  and  a  league 
of  nations  in  which  England  was  commercially  and 
industrially  a  slave  of  Germany  would  mean  the 


INTRODUCTION  xxxix 

supremacy  of  Germany  in  Europe.  The  United 
States  would  have  to  face  alone  a  world  in  which 
Germany  was  the  controlling  influence.  England 
is  to  America  what  Belgium  was  to  England.  It 
is  a  buffer-state.  If  England  is  destroyed,  there 
is  nothing  left  between  America  and  Germany's 
power.  The  counterscarp  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  and  it  only  remains  to  cross  the  moat.  It 
is  obviously  in  the  American  interest  that  the  buf- 
fer-state should  be  strong. 

If  the  buffer-state  is  weak,  as  Belgium  was  weak, 
it  is  a  poorish  sort  of  defense.  If  England  sinks 
into  a  dependency  to  the  German  industrial  system, 
her  value  as  a  buffer-state  disappears.  I  see  here 
and  there  signs  of  a  tendency  in  America  to  fall 
in  with  the  German  idea  and  work  for  a  free-trade 
England.  A  free-trade  England  may  give  Amer- 
ica a  little  more  wealth,  but  it  will  not  give  America 
security.  England  may  remain  a  market,  but  will 
cease  to  be  an  ally. 

Adam  Smith  said  long  ago  that  security  is  more 
important  than  opulence,  and  that  all  nations  should 
act  upon  that  maxim.  If  you  Americans  accept 
it,  you  will  hope  and  work  not  for  a  weak,  but  for 
a  strong,  England.  For  unless  there  is  a  strong 
England,  there  is  no  buffer-state  between  you  and 
Germany,  and  there  is  no  balance  of  power  in 
Europe.  It  would  be  the  worst  of  all  possible 
blunders  if  you  fell  into  the  German  trap  and 


xl  INTRODUCTION 

helped  Germany  to  keep  open  British  markets  for 
German  goods  after  the  war.  The  end  of  it  would 
be  that  we  should  have  a  new  war  like  the  War  of 
the  Spanish  Succession,  and  Americans  and  Ger- 
mans would  fight  over  the  prostrate  body  of  the 
British  Empire.  The  best  hope  for  the  world  is 
that  a  strong  British  Empire  should  ally  itself  with 
a  strong  America  to  maintain  peace  and  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  idea  of  hberty. 

Ian  D.  Colvin. 


FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 


FLASHES  FROM  THE 
FRONT 

CHAPTER  I 

EXIT   ASQUITH:   enter  LLOYD   GEORGE 

December,  1916.  The  cabinet  crisis  has  brought 
into  the  foreground  a  figure  always  interesting  in 
America,  the  king. 

The  present  king  is  much  underrated  outside  of 
England.  Physique  has  much  to  do  with  person- 
ality, and  King  George  is  small  and  delicate,  as 
his  father  was  robust  and  large.  George  is  shy; 
Edward  was  a  man  of  the  world.  But  those  who 
know  the  former  describe  him  as  a  man  of  great 
vigor  and  an  expert  in  diplomacy.  He  possesses 
a  minute  knowledge  of  international  relations. 
For  example,  I  am  told  that  he  knows  all  about 
and  takes  a  keen  interest  in  the  relations  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexico. 

A  democratic  country  entertains  an  unfailing 
curiosity  about  a  monarch.  What  influence  has  the 
English  king  in  the  present  situation,  and  what  is 
he  permitted  to  do?     Is  he  a  factor  to  be  reckoned 

3 


4        FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

with?  Would  King  Edward  VII,  if  alive  to-day, 
have  been  a  real  factor  in  the  situation? 

I  have  taken  some  pains  to  try  to  learn  from 
people  who  ought  to  laiow  what  the  facts  are,  but 
the  simple  truth  is  that  nobody,  not  even  King 
George  himself,  possesses  accurate  information. 
The  King  of  England  is  in  a  twilight  zone  between 
old  law  and  custom  and  new.  For  example,  he 
possesses  certain  legal  or  constitutional  powers  of 
veto,  but  no  English  king  has  used  these  for  four 
hundre*J  years. 

The  king  received  Mr.  Asquith's  resignation  and 
sent  for  Mr.  Bonar  Law  to  form  a  new  ministry. 
When  Mr.  Law  declined,  the  king  sent  for  Mr. 
Lloyd  George,  who  accepted,  succeeded  in  the  task, 
and,  going  back  to  the  king,  "kissed  hands,"  which 
put  the  stamp  of  conclusion  on  the  job. 

All  these  proceedings  were  treated  with  the  ut- 
most seriousness  by  press  and  public,  as  if  the  king 
were  an  autocratic  sovereign.  The  fiction  of  king- 
ship is  dear  to  the  heart  of  this  ultra-democratic 
country. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  the  precise  share  that 
the  king  had  in  forming  the  new  Government.  The 
authorities  gave  him  to  understand  in  some  language 
intelhgible  to  English  parliaments  and  kings  that 
the  right  thing  to  do  was  to  accept  Mr.  Asquith's 
resignation  and  then,  after  calling  on  Mr.  Bonar 
Law,  who  would  probably  dechne,  to  call  on  Mr. 


ENTER  LLOYD  GEORGE  5 

Lloyd  George,  who  would  probably  accept.  All 
this  was  done  with  an  outward  show  of  authority, 
as  if  the  words  "my  kingdom"  alwaj^s  used  in  the 
speech  from  the  throne  was  an  accurate  designation. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  king  does  not  dismiss 
or  set  up  ministries,  but  all  the  same  he  has  great 
power  rooted  in  use  and  tradition  and  upheld  by 
the  respect  and  reverence  of  the  people. 

Public  opinion  in  a  great  democracy  is  moving  in 
mysterious  ways  its  wonders  to  perform.  It  makes 
itself  vocal  raucously.  Mr.  Britling's  simile  is  not 
unfitting — "A  shipload  of  monkeys  on  a  dark  night 
in  a  rough  sea."  Westminster  shouts,  printing- 
presses  shriek,  confusion  reigns,  but  all  this  may 
be  only  the  barrage  behind  which  a  great  democracy 
advances  nobly  to  its  ordeal. 

The  two  figures  that  stand  out  to  the  American 
point  of  view  are  Asquith  and  Lloyd  George. 
They  are  names  inter-twined  in  a  Liberal  period 
of  more  than  eight  years.  Lloyd  George  supplied 
the  vision  and  initiative,  Asquith  the  judgment  and 
conciliation.  The  complementary  qualities  of  these 
two  made  possible  the  success  of  a  Liberal  govern- 
ment that  survived  all  these  years  without  a  Liberal 
majority  behind  it.  Asquith's  political  skill  and 
Lloyd  George's  constructive  genius  have  held  to- 
gether a  motley  array  of  factions  in  Parliament  rep- 
resenting different  and  at  times  antagonistic  prin- 
ciples. 


6        FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

But  it  was  a  combination  better  for  peace  than 
war.  The  very  quahties  that  enabled  Asquith  to 
put  parties  together  in  a  beautiful  pattern  of  mosaic 
during  peace  have  paralyzed  him  in  war.  He  is 
essentially  a  prince  of  pacificators.  He  makes 
things  comfortable ;  he  reassures  anxieties,  puts  the 
best  face  on  difficulties  as  they  arise,  harmonizes 
differences,  makes  a  fair  distribution  of  the  loaves 
and  fishes,  deals  tactfully  with  his  colleagues,  meets 
equably  every  situation  that  arises,  speaks  ejo- 
quently  on  every  subject.  Even  in  peace  such  abil- 
ities would  not  alone  bring  success  to  the  adminis- 
tration. That  is  where  Lloyd  George  came  in. 
He  furnished  what  the  prime  minister  lacked,  and 
in  normal  times  the  two  were  a  wonderful  team. 

But  Asquith  as  a  war  premier  never  commanded 
entire  public  confidence.  His  formation  of  the 
coalition  cabinet  was  a  wonderful  piece  of  political 
carpentry,  but  it  was  no  sooner  done  than  it  became 
plain  that  it  was  an  unworkable  mechanism.  When 
you  think  of  Hindenburg,  you  think  of  strength, 
brutality,  and  victory,  but  one  does  not  associate 
victory  with  Asquith.  It  has  been  said  that  tem- 
perament to  an  individual  person  is  like  climate  to 
a  race.  It  is  fate.  And  Asquith  does  not  possess 
war  temperament.  He  cannot  be  rough  or  un- 
couth. He  is  considerate  in  all  circumstances. 
Hindenburg  smashed  every  existing  plan  in  Ger- 
many in  three  weeks  and  brutally  substituted  lais 


ENTER  LLOYD  GEORGE  7 

own  rough-hewn  strategy.  Asquith  has  taken 
longer  than  that  to  choose  a  food  controller. 

But  the  prime  minister  is  a  consummate  master 
of  practical  politics,  and  he  has  been  a  hard  man 
to  unhorse.  Wliile  he  is  no  generator  of  original 
force,  he  knows  how  to  guide  the  conflicting  cur- 
rents to  his  own  mill-wheel.  The  advocates  of  a 
new  regime  have  had  him  almost  beaten  time  and 
again.  A  diplomat  told  me  that  he  had  gone  to 
the  House  three  times  to  see  Asquith  fall,  but  each 
time  Asquith  had  fallen  on  his  feet. 

If  the  war  had  not  gone  ill  in  these  last  weeks, 
he  might  have  stayed  through.  With  Rumania 
"paying  through  the  nose"  because  of  somebody's 
failure  to  organize  the  Allied  defense,  Greece  re- 
warding Allied  forbearance  with  treachery,  and  the 
thi'eatening  development  of  the  submarine  cam- 
paign against  the  food  supply  of  Britain,  press  op- 
position was  able  to  focus  an  attack  that  Asquith 
with  all  his  skill  at  fence  could  not  ward  off.  The 
public  lost  all  patience  with  what  was  pictured  as 
ministerial  procrastination  and  incapacity.  In  the 
pictorial  language  of  the  "Morning  Post"  "Asquith 
folds  his  hands;  Grey  wrings  his  hands,  and  the 
rest  of  the  twenty-three  rub  their  hands."  The  im- 
pression that  is  here  so  aptly  conveyed  had  at  last 
been  driven  home  to  the  public  by  a  campaign  in 
which  the  major  portion  of  the  press  joined. 

Even  so,  it  was  necessary  that  Lloyd  George 


8        FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

should  lead  the  revolt  against  his  chief,  and  at  the 
very  last,  when  the  card  of  the  war  minister's  resig- 
nation was  played,  Asquith  had  a  trump  that  almost 
took  the  trick.  For  everj?^  political  and  journalistic 
spokesman  of  the  Government  came  this  solemn 
assurance,  "Labor  will  not  support  a  minority 
headed  by  Lloyd  George  or  any  other  man  except 
Asquith."  Without  the  Labor  vote  no  Govern- 
ment can  command  a  majority  in  the  House. 
Without  a  majoritjT-  there  must  be  a  general  elec- 
tion in  the  very  crisis  of  war,  with  all  that  the  delay 
and  anarchy  of  such  an  event  may  mean. 

All  the  same  Lloyd  George  stuck  to  his  decision, 
and  the  die  was  cast.  Lloyd  George  has  lost  the 
labor  following  because  he  has  refused  to  serve  any 
particular  interest  in  time  of  war.  As  to  his  pa- 
triotism and  unselfishness  and  sincerity,  he  has  the 
confidence  of  the  country.  There  exists  a  measure 
of  doubt,  but  that  is  inevitable  about  almost  any 
man  not  liitherto  tried  out  in  absolute  leadership. 
In  the  best  informed  circles  he  is  not  regarded  as 
an  executive  man  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  term. 
He  is  almost  the  opposite  of  Asquith.  His  nature 
is  emotional  and  imaginative.  His  processes  are 
not  always  outwardly  logical,  but  he  has  that  in- 
sight that  so  often  characterizes  genius.  His  vision 
and  enthusiasm  generate  warmth  and  inspiration. 
It  is  by  his  power  of  stimulation  rather  than  by 
skill  in  organizing  that  he  gets  results. 


ENTER  LLOYD  GEORGE  9 

Lord  Kitchener  was  accounted  the  greatest  mas- 
ter of  detail  in  Enghsh  public  life.  After  he  had 
failed  to  set  munition-making  in  motion  on  the 
titanic  scale  required  by  the  war,  this  David  of 
Wales  accomplished  the  task  and  saved  England. 
So  the  instinct  of  the  people  is  pointing  a  way  to 
the  path  of  salvation  for  England.  A  great  democ- 
racy reaches  out  its  hands  to  a  great  democrat  in 
its  hour  of  doubt  and  peril.  Come  how  it  may, 
through  coahtion,  through  one  man  or  another's 
nominal  headship,  or  what  not,  it  is  in  the  air  that 
the  need  has  at  last  called  out  the  man  and  that 
in  the  inspired  zeal  of  that  man  for  the  cause  of 
liberty  and  free  institutions,  his  love  of  his  country, 
and  liis  mialterable  will  to  win,  lies  the  hope  of 
democracy  everywhere.  Whether  now  or  a  little 
later,  Lloyd  George  will  rule  England  and  finish 
the  war. 


CHAPTER  II 

PRESIDENT  Wilson's  proposals: 
Europe's  reception  oi^  peace  without  victory 

December,  1916.  Democracy  in  England  had 
at  last  shaken  off  its  lethargy  and  stood  organized 
and  efficient  for  war.  The  old  slack  policies  were 
cast  aside,  the  self-sacrifice  of  the  levee  en  masse  and 
short  rations  were  faced  smilingly.  With  some- 
thing very  like  the  spirit  of  festival  the  British  pub- 
lic from  costermonger  to  peer  were  lining  up  behind 
the  new  Goverrmient. 

Then  came  President  Wilson  into  their  midst. 
To  say  that  it  produced  the  effect  of  an  apparition 
is  to  state  the  fact  mildly.  It  was  like  a  death's- 
head  at  a  feast. 

There  was  surprise,  shock,  consternation.  To- 
morrow may  bring  explanations,  a  better  under- 
standing, a  truer  perspective.  To-day  Britain  al- 
most reels  as  from  a  staggering  blow. 

British  opinion  unanimously  rejects  the  assump- 
tion of  equality  of  motive  and  aspiration  among  the 
belHgerents.  That  is  the  implication  that  goes  to 
the  quick  of  British  sensibilities. 

Whether  the  President's  suggestion  will  evoke 

10 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  PROPOSALS     11 

a  response  among  the  always  less  promptly  vocal 
working  classes  will  require  a  few  days  to  ascertain. 
The  classes  who  usually  speak  for  British  public 
opinion  have  been  swift  to  register  protest  and  re- 
jection. 

Without  the  belief  in  the  rightness  of  the  Allies' 
cause  by  most  of  the  hundred  million  English- 
speaking  people  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
England  could  not  have  gone  on.  The  President's 
note  now  constitutes  in  some  degree  a  withdrawal 
of  American  sympathy  and  moral  support.  That 
one  view  is  uppermost  to-day  when  the  whole  sky 
is  darkened  by  the  cloud  from  the  West. 

In  this  atmosphere  the  motive  of  the  German  pro- 
posal is  judged  insincere  and  cowardly  or  a  trap 
for  the  unwary.  Those  capable  of  discussing  the 
pending  questions  philosophically  in  these  tense 
hours  admit  that  Lloyd  George  did  not  bang  and 
bolt  the  door,  that  the  subject  of  peace,  having  been 
introduced  by  one  belligerent,  must  be  considered 
sooner  or  later  by  all,  and  that  the  appeal  to  reason, 
once  invoked,  cannot  be  dismissed  and  will  ulti- 
mately prevail. 

The  question  is  whether  President  Wilson  is  the 
right  instrumentality,  whether  he  can  come  un- 
invited into  the  field  of  mediation,  and  whether  he 
presents  himself  at  the  right  time  and  in  the  right 
way. 

To-day's  signs  may  be  only  those  that  lie  on 


12   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

the  surface.  From  stricken  Europe  there  may 
come  a  different  answer,  in  which  case  President 
Wilson's  "mistake"  might  take  its  place  in  the  list 
of  historical  decisions  that  cut  through  to  the  heart 
of  tilings. 

Perhaps  peace  can  be  secured  by  compelling  the 
nations  to  reduce  their  grievances  and  aims  to  the 
concrete  and  submit  them  to  the  test  of  publicity. 

January  5,  1917.  London  winced  to-night  at 
reports  from  Washington  that  President  Wilson 
had  received  peace  terms  from  Germany  and  was 
meditating  the  sending  of  another  note.  The  hope 
is  expressed  here  that  action  will  be  suspended  until 
the  Entente  answer  to  the  President  is  presented 
and  digested. 

In  Paris  the  last  touches  are  being  put  to  the 
reply  to  Wilson,  to  which  a  high  degree  of  op- 
timism attaches  both  in  France  and  England. 
There  is  far  greater  interest  in  this  note  than  there 
was  in  the  reply  to  Germany.  It  is  recognized 
that  the  impression  made  by  it  may  change  the 
whole  war  outlook.  The  world  is  at  attention,  and 
every  word  will  be  read  and  weighed. 

The  kaiser  created  the  situation ;  President  Wil- 
son heightened  the  dramatic  interest;  the  occasion 
was  made  to  order  for  Lloyd  George.  He  will  im- 
prove it  unless  he  has  been  smothered  under  the 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  PROPOSALS     13 

multiplicity  and  confusion  of  counsel.  The  effect 
of  committee  work  on  such  a  document  is  desic- 
cating. 

There  are  two  big  objectives.  Particularly 
aimed  at  first  is  American  opinion.  Nobody  be- 
lieved that  America  had  reached  the  point  where  she 
must  fight  on  one  side  or  the  other  and  that  she 
is  so  indifferent  which  it  is  that  it  is  almost  a  matter 
of  flipping  a  penn\%  but  President  Wilson  has  ap- 
parently been  willing  to  put  the  belligerents  vir- 
tually on  a  parity. 

The  answer  to  him  will  address  directly  the  peo- 
ple of  America  at  a  time  when  they  are  all  listening. 
It  will  be  an  appeal  not  to  identify  the  Allies  with 
the  Teutons,  either  as  participants  in  an  insane  and 
murderous  and  purposeless  conflict  or  as  humanity- 
loving  and  God-fearing  defenders  of  weak  states 
and  helpless  peoples. 

The  Allies  hope  to  make  America  feel  that  they 
are  pouring  out  their  blood  and  treasure  in  order 
that  American  democracy  may  live;  but  that  if 
their  sacrifices  should  be  in  vain  and  Germany 
should  win,  democracy  everywhere  would  lose,  and 
the  United  States,  being  the  biggest  democracy, 
would  be  the  heaviest  loser. 

There  is  no  idea  in  this  appeal  of  obtaining  new 
practical  results  in  America.  The  Allies  want  the 
same  good  feeling  they  have  always  had  there,  and 


14   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

the  same  fair  treatment.  Above  all,  they  want  to 
be  let  alone  to  push  their  case  against  Germany  for 
**a  verdict  with  costs." 

The  second  big  objective  is  German  opinion. 
Reasonable  human  beings  here  do  not  believe  the 
German  people  are  wicked,  but  that  they  are  under 
an  obsession,  and  that  if  a  gleam  of  sanity  and 
justice  can  be  shot  through  the  armor  of  Kaiser  ism 
straight  to  the  German  people,  it  might  tend  to 
bring  them  to  their  senses.  There  are  not  many 
who  believe  that  Germany  can  be  crushed  by  mil- 
itary force.  Disillusion  is  the  best  hope  of  ending 
the  war.  If  doubts  can  once  be  sown  throughout 
Germany,  they  will  spring  up  like  mustard  seed. 

Germany's  power  has  rested  on  the  morbid  faith 
and  hysterical  loyalty  that  the  Prussian  autocracy 
has  commanded  from  the  whole  German  people. 
They  have  been  working  in  harness  until  they  bless 
the  yoke  that  galls  their  necks. 

Whether  or  no  the  Allied  reply  to  President 
Wilson  can  be  kept  from  the  German  people  or 
will  influence  their  minds  if  it  is  laid  before  them, 
it  is  at  least  plain  that  a  process  of  disillusionment 
has  begun  in  Austria-Hungary,  and  the  back-fire 
will  reach  Germany  sooner  or  later.  The  new  Em- 
peror Charles  and  his  advisers  are  evidently  be- 
ginning to  suspect  that  it  is  a  case  of  "heads  I  win, 
tails  you  lose." 

Discussion  of  the  dismemberment  of  the  dual 


THE  PHESIDENT'S  PROPOSALS    15 

monarchy  in  the  event  of  a  German  victory  is  heard 
in  every  capital.  There  may  be  separate  kings  of 
Austria,  Hungary,  and  Bohemia,  but  they  will  all 
be  Kaiser  Wilhelm's  sons. 

If  Germany  loses,  matters  will  be  still  worse  for 
Austria.  The  war  is  stabbing  at  her  vitals.  She 
feels  all  the  pinch  of  it,  but  has  none  of  the  day- 
dreams. There  are  no  Bagdad  railways  for  Aus- 
tria, no  Eastern  empires,  no  castles  in  the  air. 
Hers  is  a  drab  prospect,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
Vienna  curses  that  day  at  the  end  of  July,  1914, 
when  a  scheming  German  ambassador  cut  off  the 
diplomatic  conversation  which  had  already  begun 
with  St.  Petersburg  by  sweeping  all  the  papers  into 
his  despatch-box,  putting  his  box  under  his  arm, 
and  taking  the  train  for  Berlin. 

Impending  events  in  Washington  will  be  watched 
carefully  by  the  British  press  and  pubHc.  There 
are  two  sources  of  possible  friction.  The  first,  that 
the  President  may  be  drawn  into  a  treaty  with  those 
elements  in  Congress  which  view  the  world  as  hav- 
ing been  made  yesterday  and  having  nostrums  for 
the  instant  cure  for  all  human  ills.  The  other  dan- 
ger arises  from  the  red-tape  artists  in  the  British 
Government  departments  who  might  at  any  mo- 
ment supply  Washington  with  the  necessary  ex- 
plosive. 

January  14,  1917.     The  Allies'  answer  to  the 


16   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

President's  note  still  figures  first  as  a  bull  argu- 
ment. The  volte-face  of  opinion  is  now  complete. 
It  is  seen  that  the  Allies  had  the  trump  cards  all 
the  time  and  didn't  know  their  value.  The  Pres- 
ident stood  where  he  could  see  both  hands  before 
they  were  put  on  the  table.  With  all  their  wincing 
at  first,  it  is  now  recognized  that  the  Allies  have 
done  what  was  best  for  them  and  what  should  have 
been  done  voluntarily.  Even  the  imputing  of  iden- 
tical motives  to  both  belligerents  is  now  accepted 
in  good  part.  The  President  is  thereby  given  a 
latch-string  to  the  German  door  which  he  is  free  to 
use  if  the  Germans  should  hereafter  have  a  new 
conception  in  accord  with  realities. 

Whether  Mr.  Wilson  acted  with  calculation  or 
whether  this  was  one  act  of  emotion  in  the  course  of 
his  Presidency,  the  fact  stands  out  boldly  that  he 
has  scored  handsomely.  He  took  what  seemed  a 
big  chance.  Three  weeks  ago  he  was  anathema 
throughout  Allied  Europe;  to-day  he  is  stronger 
and  America  is  stronger  in  England  and  France, 
and  they  have  more  prestige  and  there  is  less  enmity 
than  perhaps  at  any  time  since  the  sinking  of  the 
Lusitania.  America  for  the  first  time  has  a  sub- 
stantial stock  of  good-will  in  Europe,  and  if  the 
advantage  is  followed  up  with  well-advised  inter- 
national statesmanship,  the  United  States  may  play 
a  part  that  will  write  President  Wilson's  name 
large  on  the  page  of  history. 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  PROPOSALS     17 

January  24,  1917.  London  liked  neither  Pres- 
ident Wilson's  note  nor  his  speech  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  but  the  disapproval  manifested  itself 
quite  differently  in  the  two  cases.  The  note  sur- 
prised and  startled  England ;  the  speech  to  the  Sen- 
ate may  give  deeper  offense  and  its  effects  may 
last  longer,  but  it  has  caused  far  less  consternation 
judging  from  personal  comment  and  newspaper 
editorials.  There  is  a  much  larger  minority  of 
opinion  publicly  favorable  to  the  speech  than  there 
was  to  the  note. 

The  speech  seems  to  be  regarded  as  a  more  or 
less  internal  American  affair.  It  was  not  osten- 
sibly an  address  to  Europe,  but  increased  impor- 
tance attaches  to  it  as  a  representative  expression 
of  majority  opinion  in  America.  At  least,  such  is 
the  belief  here. 

The  note  both  wounded  and  offended  English 
sensibilities.  Certain  passages  in  it  were  seized 
upon  and  misconstrued,  and  when  a  more  just  view 
prevailed,  there  was  reaction.  The  feeling  to-day 
seemed  more  that  of  resignation.  In  the  comment 
there  was  a  note  of  regretful  readjustment  of  public 
opinion  to  the  American  attitude,  a  sort  of  revalu- 
ation of  American  friendship  toward  the  Allies  on 
a  sliding  scale  downwards. 

As  quotations  from  the  press  will  show,  the  of- 
fending lance  was  tipped  with  a  phrase  "peace  with- 
out victory."     In  "peace  without  victory"  the  Pres- 


18   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

ident  has  coined  a  new  expression  that  may  share 
honors  with  "too  proud  to  fight"  during  the  rest 
of  the  war  discussion  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

Apart  from  the  phrases  to  which  unwarranted 
importance  may  be  given,  there  is  a  deeper  offense 
to  the  Enghsh  in  the  impHcation  that  the  belhg- 
erents  all  stand  on  the  same  footing.  The  vice  of 
the  whole  discussion  by  the  President  from  the 
English  point  of  view  lies  in  what  is  regarded  as 
a  complete  misunderstanding  of  the  moral  objects 
for  which  the  Allies  are  fighting.  The  British  mind 
declines  to  entertain  any  consideration  of  the  war 
based  upon  the  moral  equity  of  the  Entente  and 
the  Teutons.  The  suggestion  that  the  head  of  a 
great  neutral  country  may  wish  to  keep  himself  in 
a  position  to  maintain  friendly  relations  with  both 
sides  if  he  is  to  play  a  useful  part  was  not  favorably 
received  when  offered  to-day  as  the  possible  ex- 
planation. 

February  18,  1917.  Within  the  next  few  days 
the  question  of  whether  the  breach  of  diplomatic 
relations  between  the  United  States  and  Germany 
is  to  be  followed  by  war  will  probably  be  brought 
to  an  issue. 

Personally,  I  believe  that  great  forces  have  been 
set  in  motion  which  cannot  be  stopped,  and  that 
these  forces  are  certain  to  smash  through  to  final- 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  PROPOSALS     19 

ities.  On  the  one  hand,  Germany  must  use  the 
power  of  the  submarine  to  the  utmost  hmit.  There 
must  be  neither  let  nor  hindrance.  The  submarine 
is  half-bhnd,  and  must  fight  so,  without  being  re- 
quired to  discriminate. 

The  German  submarine  sailor  is  ruthless  or  noth- 
ing. To  fasten  mercy  upon  him,  to  ask  him  to 
spare  women  and  children,  is  to  put  him  in  a  strait- 
jacket.  The  submarine,  blind,  cruel,  and  reck- 
lessly destructive,  expresses  the  present  mood  of 
Prussianized  Germany. 

Neither  fear  of  America  nor  regard  for  world 
conscience  is  likely  to  cheat  the  Prussian  of  this 
last  throw  in  the  desperate  game  that  he  has  been 
playing  since  August,  1914. 

The  other  great  force  is  the  resistance  of 
America.  What  Germany  must  do,  or  else  aban- 
don her  submarine  stroke  in  the  perfection  of  its 
efficiency,  America  must  forbid  or  else  abandon 
her  position  as  a  spirited  and  self-respecting  nation. 

Many  will  say  at  once  that  that  has  happened 
ah'eady.  It  is  a  controversial  point  not  to  be 
argued  here.  The  abandonment  that  I  have  in 
mind  is  one  that  goes  far  beyond  any  surrender 
hitherto  made,  and  one  that  in  my  opinion  is  even 
less  probable  than  that  Germany  should  renounce 
her  submarine  campaign.  If  President  Wilson 
were  the  veriest  weakling,  the  American  people 


20   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

themselves  would  rise  up  in  Indignant  protest  if 
the  sacrifice  of  national  honor  were  brought  home 
to  them. 

No  President,  however  pacific,  could  stand  up 
against  the  feeling  that  would  be  aroused  at  this 
time  in  the  United  States  by  an  overt  act  of  the 
barbarous  character  of  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania 
or  the  Sussex,  Such  sinkings  are  inevitable  unless 
Germany  abandons  her  program. 

But  the  present  chief  magistrate  of  the  Ameri- 
can nation  is  no  weakling.  He  is  an  intellectual; 
he  eschews  emotion;  he  prefers  a  method  of  calcu- 
lation ;  but  he  knows  neither  hesitation  nor  fear. 

At  the  time  of  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania  a 
large,  perhaps  it  might  be  said  the  best,  section  of 
the  American  public  would  have  liked  to  see  im- 
mediate action.  An  emotional  man  like  Theodore 
Roosevelt  would  have  given  us  action.  The  white 
heat  generated  in  the  country,  which  Roosevelt 
would  have  used  against  Germany,  Wilson  per- 
mitted to  cool.  Again  and  again  the  process  was 
repeated,  and  many  of  us  felt  that  President 
Wilson  was  condemning  the  country  to  a  per- 
manent decline  in  spirit.  But  we  saw  the  other 
day,  when  he  broke  off  relations  with  Germany, 
that  the  American  people  rose  as  one  man  to  his 
support. 

It  must  be  clear  that  unless  the  President  had 
set  a  goal  toward  which  he  was  moving,  he  would 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  PROPOSALS     21 

never  have  broken  off  relations.  Dealing  with  a 
man  who  never  acts  on  impulse  has  its  advantages. 

With  his  historian's  perspective,  President 
Wilson  probably  realized  from  the  beginning  that 
the  United  States  was  sure  to  be  drawn  into  the 
war.  His  responsibility  was  tremendous.  He  had 
to  act  for  a  hundred  million  people  made  up  of 
many  different  races,  ten  per  cent,  of  them  of  Ger- 
man stock.  He  had  to  use  the  tools  in  his  own 
workshop.  He  was  not  Roosevelt,  with  Roose- 
velt's emotions  and  driving  power:  he  was  an 
analytical,  patient,  methodical  man,  with  a  genius 
for  understanding  the  thought  and  feeling  of  the 
people  over  which  he  presided.  He  therefore 
adopted  a  policy  for  which  he  was  fitted  by  tempera- 
ment and  intellectual  ability,  and  he  was  careful 
not  to  strike  against  his  own  limitations.  It  was 
a  triumph  for  that  policy,  that  after  all  the  serious 
criticism  a  single  act,  rupture  with  Germany, 
changed  the  tune  of  comment  all  over  the  world 
from  faultfinding  to  approval.  A  single  decision 
justified  the  entire  course  of  his  action;  a  single 
stroke  brought  all  the  jarring  atoms  into  harmony. 

Now  at  last  the  President  finds  himself  master 
of  the  situation.  The  pause  between  the  rupture 
and  the  overt  act  brings  a  recrudescence  of  pacifism, 
but  it  is  of  a  mild  form  and  will  prove  iimocuous. 
Mr.  Wilson's  method  insures  the  support  of  the 
country  at  par,  provided  always  that  he  waits  for 


22   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

the  overt  act.  He  must  not  fight  for  a  negro 
stoker:  there  are  at  least  thirteen  States  in  the 
South  which  would  go  in  coldly  on  such  provoca- 
tion. Such  a  finale,  too,  would  not  be  in  key  with 
what  has  gone  before.  It  would  not  be  wise  for 
Mr.  Wilson  to  break  the  flow  of  his  policy  from  the 
Lusitania  onward.  He  and  the  country  behind  him 
are  in  perfect  concord.  There  is  no  room  for  reac- 
tion. 

When  the  moment  of  decision  arrives,  America 
will  enter  the  war  with  one  hundred  2)er  cent,  of 
solidarity,  with  every  ounce  of  her  matchless  re- 
sources, loyally  following  a  leader  who  has  put  her 
into  the  war  because  he  could  "do  no  otherwise." 

The  American  people  want  to  be  forced  into  this 
war  if  they  must  go  in,  and  they  have  got  a  Presi- 
dent who  is  going  to  give  them  their  way.  But 
both  he  and  they,  once  in,  will  fight  for  all  they  are 
worth. 

It  is  doubtful  if  England,  so  long  baffled  by  what 
seemed  at  this  distance  and  from  an  intensely  in- 
terested standpoint  inexplicable  delay,  has  yet 
grasped  the  importance  of  American  participation. 
The  addition  of  resources  of  a  hundred  million 
live  people,  possessing  the  greatest  wealth  of  any 
nation  in  the  world,  added  to  the  superiority  of  the 
Allies,  which  is  already  overwhelming,  will  abso- 
lutely destroy  the  last  chance  of  German  success. 

Scarcely  less  important  will  be  the  influence  of 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  PROPOSALS     23 

the  greatest  democracy  when  the  time  of  settlement 
arrives.  The  entry  of  America  into  the  war  will 
make  for  a  somider  peace  and  will  make  sure  a 
better  world. 

England,  August,  1917.  Since  coming  to 
England  on  the  same  boat  with  General  Pershing 
and  his  staff,  I  have  been  asked  a  good  many  ques- 
tions about  America.  These  questions  probably 
represent  the  points  of  doubt  in  the  Canadian  and 
British  mind,  and  I  will  try  to  answer  them  in  the 
interest  of  good  understanding.  I  believe  that  I 
can  assume  that  such  inquiries  in  no  sense  imply 
distrust  of  America's  motives  or  methods,  but 
rather  that  those  making  them  wish  to  be  provided 
with  information  that  shall  more  fully  establish 
their  faith  in,  and  gratitude  to,  America. 

Why  did  America  wait  nearly  three  years  to 
come  in:  and  more  particularly  why  did  not  the 
President  act  in  the  Lusitania  case? 

It  was  a  matter  of  judgment  depending  upon 
two  things :  ( 1 )  The  inherent  justice  of  the  matter, 
and  (2)  the  attitude  of  the  American  people  and 
the  President's  own  feeling  as  well  as  his  capacity 
for  action  in  the  circumstances.  The  President 
possesses  certain  gifts  and  limitations  of  tempera- 
ment and  intellect.  He  is  unemotional  and 
analytical,  and  it  may  be  assumed  that  from  the 
beginning  he  took  careful  stock  of  all  the  assets  and 


24   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

liabilities  from  a  war  point  of  view,  including  his 
own  capacity  for  leadership.  A  different  type  of 
man — let  us  say  Colonel  Roosevelt — might  have 
been  successful  in  making  the  sinking  of  the 
Lusitania  the  occasion  of  going  to  war. 

The  big  element  in  the  consideration  of  whether 
and  when  to  go  to  war  was  the  country  itself. 
First,  there  was  the  geographical  extent  of  the 
States  stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
and  from  Canada  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
Naturally,  it  was  difficult  to  acquaint  the  in- 
habitants of  this  great  area  with  the  truth  about  the 
war,  to  bring  it  home  to  them  as  a  matter  of  actual 
and  personal  concern.  A  people  springing  from 
diverse  racial  sources,  occupying  forty-eight 
separate  States  and  enjoying  a  prosperous  peace, 
educated  from  time  immemorial  to  the  idea  of  keep- 
ing aloof  and  remote  from  European  affairs,  were 
not  easily  interested  and  made  sympathetic. 

Was  the  German  proi^aganda  in  any  way  re- 
sponsible for  the  delay;  and  did  Count  von  Bern- 
storff  have  any  influence  at  the  White  House? 

No  man  could  have  been  less  amenable  to  outside 
influence  than  President  Wilson.  His  conclusions 
were  reached  by  a  process  of  cold  reasoning. 
Bernstorff  was  less  than  nothing,  a  minus  quantity. 
Indeed,  the  whole  elaborate  German  mechanism  for 
propaganda  in  the  United  States  was  worse  than 
a  failure.     The  clumsy  effort  to  falsify  facts  and 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  PROPOSALS     25 

influence  judgment  had  the  effect  of  destroying  the 
original  German  position  at  the  bar  of  American 
opinion.  There  was  never  any  need  of  English 
propaganda.  Bernstorff  and  Co.  did  the  work  for 
England.  At  every  stage  American  opinion  was 
ninety  per  cent.,  or  more,  pro-Ally,  and  this  in  the 
face  of  the  large  percentage  of  German  stock  and 
the  immemorial  prejudice  against  the  British  aris- 
ing out  of  war  grievances  and  Irish  prejudice. 

Are  the  American  people  deeply  and  sincerely 
for  the  war? 

Not  all  of  them  fully  realize  what  war  means. 
They  have  taken  the  resolution  without  working 
out  in  their  own  minds  its  ultimate  meaning;  but 
they  know  enough  of  the  situation  and  their  part 
in  it  to  make  them  realize  the  fullness  and  finality 
of  their  committal.  Events  will  bring  home  to 
them  the  duties,  sacrifices,  and  misery  of  war. 

When  will  the  American  Army  of  one  million 
men — the  number  reckoned  by  the  military  authori- 
ties as  constituting  an  effective  factor — be  in  the 
field? 

Such  an  army  can  be  recruited  in  only  a  few 
weeks.  The  soldiers  will  require,  say,  tliree  months 
and  a  half's  training,  most  of  which  should  prefer- 
ably be  in  Europe.  The  only  element  of  doubt  is 
the  question  of  transportation  for  the  men  and  sup- 
plies. It  all  comes  back  to  the  big  matter  in  this 
war,  the  submarine.    An  American  Army  of  one 


26   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

million  men  might  have  heen  put  into  the  trenches 
by  January  in  time  for  the  Spring  fighting  in  1918 
if  ships  could  have  been  found  and  protection  from 
the  submarine  provided.  The  prime  minister 
speaks  confidently  about  the  submarine,  but  other 
authorities  seem  to  be  far  less  sure. 

Is  America  doing  all  that  she  can? 

Nobody  ever  is,  but  in  my  opinion  America's 
effort  must  be  rated  as  satisfactory,  humanly  speak- 
ing. In  two  particulars  her  effort  has  been 
monumental,  in  adopting  compulsory  military  serv- 
ice and  in  voting  money.  The  latter  has  already 
prevented  a  condition  rapidly  nearing  collapse  in 
European  finance.  It  was  specially  timely  in  sav- 
ing England,  whose  back  was  fairly  breaking  under 
the  load.  America  is  now  working  out  many  big 
problems  for  the  Allies,  which  include:  enlisting 
and  training  an  army  of  a  million  that  will  be  in- 
creased to  two  million  sometime  in  1918;  cooperat- 
ing against  the  submarine  by  furnishing  fighting 
ships  and  constructing  new  shipping;  building  aero- 
planes in  tremendous  number;  cooperating  in  in- 
dustrial and  economic  measures  to  increase  Allied 
resources  for  fighting  the  enemy.  Our  taldng  our 
stand  beside  the  Allies  at  a  time  of  collapse  in 
Russia  makes  hopeful  a  situation  that  would  other- 
wise be  desperate. 


CHAPTER  III 

A  LINCOLN-DAY   MESSAGE   TO   AMERICA 
FROM   THE   RT.    HON.   DAVID   LLOYD   GEORGE 

The  following  message  was  given  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George  to 
Mr.  Charles  H.  Grasty  in  answer  to  a  request  for  a  tribute 
to  Abraham  Lincoln  for  publication  in  the  United  States  on 
Lincoln  Day  (February  12,  1917),  the  anniversary  of  his 
birth. 

I  am  very  glad  to  respond  to  your  request  for  a 
message  for  publication  on  Lincoln  day.  I  am  glad 
because  to  my  mind  Abraham  Lincoln  was  one  of 
the  very  fu*st  of  the  world's  statesmen,  because  I 
believe  that  the  battle  which  we  have  been  fighting 
is  at  bottom  the  same  battle  which  your  country- 
men fought  under  Lincoln's  leadership  more  than 
fifty  years  ago,  and  most  of  all,  perhaps,  because 
I  desire  to  say  how  much  I  welcome  the  proof  which 
the  last  few  days  have  afforded  that  the  American 
people  are  coming  to  realize  this  too. 

Lincoln's  life  was  devoted  to  the  cause  of  human 
freedom.  From  the  day  when  he  first  recognized 
what  slavery  meant  he  bent  all  his  energies  to  its 
eradication  from  American  soil.  Yet  after  years 
of  patient  effort  he  was  driven  to  realize  that  it  was 


28   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

not  a  mere  question  of  abolishing  slavery  in  the 
Southern  States,  but  that  bound  up  with  it  was  a 
larger  issue,  that  unless  the  Union  abolished 
slavery,  slavery  would  break  up  the  Union.  Faced 
by  this  alternative,  he  did  not  shrink,  after  every 
other  method  had  failed,  from  vindicating  both  the 
Union  and  freedom  by  the  terrible  instrument  of 
war.  Nor  after  the  die  for  war  had  been  cast  did 
he  hesitate  to  call  upon  his  countrymen  to  make 
sacrifice  upon  sacrifice,  to  submit  to  limitation  upon 
limitation  of  their  personal  freedom,  until,  in  his 
own  words,  there  was  a  new  birth  of  freedom  in 
your  land. 

The  American  people  under  Lincoln  fought  not 
a  war  of  conquest,  but  a  war  of  liberation.  We  to- 
day are  fighting  not  a  war  of  conquest,  but  a  war 
of  liberation,  a  liberation  not  of  ourselves  alone,  but 
of  all  the  world,  from  that  body  of  barbarous 
doctrine  and  inhuman  practice  which  has  estranged 
nations,  has  held  back  the  unity  and  progress  of  the 
world,  and  has  stood  revealed  in  all  its  deadly 
iniquity  in  the  course  of  this  war.  In  such  wars 
for  liberty  there  can  be  no  compromise.  They  are 
either  won  or  lost.  In  your  case  it  was  freedom 
and  unity  or  slavery  and  separation.  In  our  case 
military  power  tyrannously  used  will  have  suc- 
ceeded in  tearing  up  treaties  and  trampling  on  the 
rights  of  others,  or  liberty  and  public  right  will  have 
prevailed.     Therefore,  we  believe  that  the  war  must 


MESSAGE  TO  AMERICA  29 

be  fought  out  to  a  finish,  for  on  such  an  issue  there 
can  be  no  such  thing  as  a  drawn  war. 

In  holding  this  conviction  we  have  been  inspired 
and  strengthened  beyond  measure  by  the  example 
and  the  words  of  your  great  President.  Once  the 
conflict  had  been  joined,  he  did  not  shrink  from 
bloodshed.  I  have  often  been  struck  by  the  growth 
of  both  tenderness  and  stern  determination  in  the 
face  of  Lincoln  as  shown  in  his  photographs  as  the 
war  went  on.  Despite  his  abhorrence  of  all  that 
war  entailed,  he  persisted  in  it  because  he  knew  that 
he  was  sparing  life  by  losing  it,  that,  if  he  agreed 
to  compromise,  the  blood  that  had  been  shed  on  a 
hundred  fields  would  have  been  shed  in  vain,  that 
the  task  of  creating  a  united  nation  of  free  men 
would  only  have  to  be  undertaken  again  at  even 
greater  cost  at  some  later  day. 

It  would,  indeed,  be  impossible  to  state  our  faith 
more  clearly  than  Lincoln  stated  it  himself  at  the 
end  of  1864. 

On  careful  consideration  of  all  the  evidence,  it  seems  to  me 
that  no  attempt  at  any  negotiation  with  the  insurgent  leader 
could  result  in  any  good.  He  would  accept  nothing  short  of 
severance  of  the  Union — precisely  what  we  will  not  and  can- 
not give.  His  declarations  to  this  effect  are  explicit  and  oft 
repeated.  He  does  not  deceive  us.  He  affords  us  no  excuse 
to  deceive  ourselves.  .  .  .  Between  hira  and  us  the  issue  is  dis- 
tinct, simple,  and  inflexible.  It  is  an  issue  which  can  only  be 
tried  by  war  and  decided  by  victory. 


30   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

That  was  the  judgment  of  the  greatest  states- 
man of  the  nineteenth  century  during  the  last  great 
war  for  human  hberty.  It  is  the  judgment  of  this 
nation  and  of  its  fellow-nations  overseas  to-day. 
"Our  armies,"  said  Lincoln,  "are  ministers  of  good, 
not  of  evil."  So  do  we  believe.  And  through  all 
the  carnage  and  suffering  and  conflicting  motives 
of  the  Civil  War,  Lincoln  held  steadfastly  to  the 
belief  that  it  was  the  freedom  of  the  people  to 
govern  themselves  which  was  the  fundamental  issue 
at  stake. 

So  do  we  hold  to-day.  For  when  the  people  of 
central  Europe  accept  the  peace  which  is  offered 
them  by  the  Allies  not  only  will  the  Allied  peoples 
be  free  as  they  have  never  been  free  before,  but  the 
German  people,  too,  will  find  that  in  losing  their 
dream  of  an  empire  over  others  they  have  found 
self-government  for  themselves. 


CHAPTER  IV 

GLIMPSES   AT   THE   FRONT 

March  6,  1917.  When  I  joined  the  Berhn  con- 
tingent at  Madrid,  I  brought  the  optimism  of  a 
recent  visit  to  the  British  front  with  me.  I  felt 
sm-e  that  with  the  advance  of  the  season  the  nibbhng 
would  develop  imtil  a  battle  should  rage  along  the 
whole  line  from  the  channel  to  Switzerland.  I 
found  among  the  Berlin  crowd  men  who  had  been 
on  the  German  front  a  few  yards  to  the  eastward 
of  where  I  had  been  on  the  British  lines,  not  for 
a  few  days,  but  for  weeks.  They  spoke  with 
knowledge  and  authority,  and  they  said  that  the 
optimism  of  the  English  was  the  optimism  of  the 
amateur.  The  Germans  were  dug  in  and  con- 
creted; their  subterranean  fastnesses  were  chan- 
neled and  connected;  they  had  communcation  and 
transport  and  every  facility  for  beating  off  an  at- 
tack. I  confess  that  I  was,  and  am,  somewhat 
staggered  by  what  comes  to  me  with  such  authority. 

But  the  news  wirelessed  to  the  Infanta  Isabel 
these  past  few  days  indicates  that  the  British  confi- 
dence may  not  be  misplaced.  Eleven  miles  by  two 
deep  with  three  hues  of  trenches  looks  like  business. 

31 


32   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

"Let  us  wait  and  hear  the  cost,"  say  the  men  who 
know  Germany's  strength.  "In  the  thirty  kilo- 
meters between  the  present  Enghsh  Hne  and  Cam- 
brai  there  are  seventeen  lines  of  defense,  with  three 
trenches  to  each,  or  fifty-one  trenches,  all  with  dug- 
outs, subways,  and  transportation.  If  the  English 
take  this  area,  the  cost  will  make  it  a  losing  opera- 
tion. They  will  be  making  with  the  Germans  a 
ruinous  swap  of  irreplaceable  life  for  valueless 
land."    We  shall  see. 

When  all  the  careful  preliminaries  have  been  at- 
tended to  and  when  the  coveted  white  pass  has  ar- 
rived from  general  headquarters  in  France,  which 
alone  has  authority  to  select  those  who  are  to  visit 
the  front,  the  person  so  favored  is  told  what  train 
to  catch  at  Charing  Cross,  what  boat  to  take  at 
Folkestone,  and  what  officer  to  be  on  the  lookout 
for  at  Boulogne. 

My  train  was  the  11:15  a.m.  Three  minutes 
before  train  time  a  guard  yanked  my  hand  luggage 
out  of  the  compartment,  which  a  prudent  punctual- 
ity had  preempted,  informing  me  that  as  the  train 
had  been  canceled,  there  would  be  no  channel  cross- 
ing, owing  to  the  fog.  A  different  train  was  leav- 
ing on  another  track,  and  being  an  American  and 
alive  to  possibilities  I  boarded  that  and  went  to 
Folkestone,  anyway.  It  was  a  tight  squeeze  to  get 
in  at  the  hotel;  at  the  office  they  strongly  advised 
my  returning  to  London ;  there  had  been  no  channel 


GLIMPSES  AT  THE  FRONT         33 

crossing  for  four  days.  Meanwhile  the  Germans, 
according  to  the  gossip,  had  undoubtedly  sown  the 
channel  thick  with  mines,  and  there  would  be  no 
crossing  for  several  days  after  the  fog  lifted,  to  give 
the  mine  sweepers  a  chance  to  clear  the  lane.  As 
a  fact,  three  days'  extra  leave  had  been  given  to 
soldiers  waiting  at  Boulogne,  which  tended  to  bear 
out  the  foregoing. 

All  the  same,  I  stayed.  The  next  morning,  when 
I  came  down  at  9:15,  as  a  chance  shot  I  asked  the 
lift  boy  if  there  would  be  a  boat  that  day,  and  the 
reply  came  back,  "Yes,  sir,  at  a  quarter  to  ten." 
I  didn't  stop  for  breakfast,  but  packed  up,  and 
made  a  rush  for  the  boat. 

The  Onward,  which  I  recognized  as  an  old  friend 
of  peace  time,  was  packed  with  soldiers,  who  came 
marching  aboard  to  the  popular  airs  played  by  their 
bands.  The  first  thing  every  one  did  was  to  put 
on  a  life-preserver.  In  twenty-odd  Atlantic  cross- 
ings I  had  never  before  made  the  acquaintance  of 
one.  I  got  a  jolly  good  breakfast  of  cold  meats 
and  coffee  in  the  Onward' s  restaurant,  and  sharp  at 
ten  we  steamed  out. 

The  sweepers  had  been  at  work  two  abreast. 
We  had  all  kinds  of  craft  as  escort.  Every  one 
knew  that  danger  lurked  about.  It  was  a  thrilhng 
passage.  I  didn't  sit  down  once;  I  couldn't,  for 
there  was  no  place  to  sit,  but  it  never  occurred 
to  me  to  be  tired,  there  was  so  much  to  see.     I 


34   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

moved  about  among  the  men,  talking  with  them 
and  getting  their  point  of  view  as  far  as  I  could. 
But  the  most  interesting  thing  of  all  was  the  con- 
voy. The  destroyers  threshed  about,  zigzagging 
like  drunken  men  on  a  sidewalk.  All  the  boats 
moved  swiftly,  the  destroyers  each  leaving  a  boil- 
ing wake  and  carrying  a  "bone  in  their  teeth." 
Two  other  boats,  packed  to  the  gunwales,  followed 
the  Onwai'd,  taking  advantage  of  the  same  escort. 

We  backed  in  to  the  familiar  dock  at  Boulogne, 
and  there  an  army  captain  met  me  in  a  limousine, 
and  drove  me  to  general  headquarters. 

It  is  difficult  to  know  precisely  what  to  tell  of  a 
visit  of  this  kind,  without  violating  hospitality. 
Besides,  there  is  nothing  that  I  could  describe  that 
has  not  already  been  better  described  by  the 
splendid  fellows  who  from  day  to  day,  at  great 
sacrifice  and  often  with  much  danger  to  them- 
selves, are  wi'iting  the  story  of  this  war.  My  story, 
in  so  far  as  it  is  a  story,  is  that  of  a  new  pair  of 
eyes  barely  ghmpsing  scenes  long  since  made 
familiar  to  newspaper  readers  all  over  the  world. 

I  wanted  to  pick  out  something  that  was  of 
particular  interest  on  our  side  of  the  water  and  that 
had  not  been  done  to  death ;  so  I  asked  to  be  taken 
to  that  part  of  the  front  occupied  by  the  Fourth 
Canadian  Division.  I  knew  something  of  the  gen- 
eral in  command  of  this  division.  In  the  first  place, 
he   was   a   newspaper   proprietor.     His   paper   is 


GLIMPSES  AT  THE  FRONT         35 

"The  Quebec  Daily  Clu-onicle."  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  war,  Lieutenant- Colonel  D.  Watson,  he  was 
taking  quite  an  interest,  mainly  civic,  in  what  in 
Canada  corresponds  to  our  militia.  With  his 
battalion,  he  sailed  immediately  for  England,  arriv- 
ing there  in  September,  1914. 

These  men  had  been  playing  at  soldiering,  but 
they  knew  virtually  nothing  about  it  expertly. 
After  six  months'  training  they  went  to  France. 
In  April,  1915,  they  were  blooded  on  Hill  60  near 
Ypres,  when  they  relieved  the  French,  who,  brave 
as  they  were,  turned  away  from  the  first  experience 
of  poisoned  gas  and  stumbled  to  the  rear.  The 
epic  of  the  Canadian  stand  at  Hill  60  was  written 
by  Max  Aitken,  who  the  other  day  became  Lord 
Beaverbrook  in  the  English  peerage.  That  stand 
will  live  in  history  with  the  charge  of  the  six 
hundred.  It  required  quite  as  much  courage  and  a 
good  deal  more  presence  of  mind.  Watson  got  a 
brigade  after  Ypres.  A  year  later  he  became  a 
major-general.  When  I  arrived  at  his  head- 
quarters I  was  interested  to  notice  that  at  the  en- 
trance to  the  typical,  small  French  villa  there  hung 
an  instrument  labeled  "gas  alarm."  Three  miles 
back  of  the  first-line  trenches  it  is  necessary  to  have 
this  protection  against  surprise.  Colonel  Ironside, 
a  Highlander  from  the  verj^  top  of  Rosshire,  showed 
me  up  to  the  general,  from  whom  I  got  a  genuine 
American  welcome.     I  found  later  that  the  general 


36   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

maintains  his  Americanism  to  the  extent  that  he 
has  not  learned  to  join  in  the  tea-drinking.  I  knew 
then  that  he  was  sincere  in  what  he  told  me,  as  we 
sat  out  this  function,  about  his  fellow-feeling  for 
Americans. 

After  we  had  talked  a  while,  General  Watson 
and  one  of  his  aides  drove  me  out  to  the  front, 
and  under  his  personal  escort  I  made  a  visit  to  the 
trenches.  It  was  like  a  visit  to  America,  for  the 
general  had  easy,  personal  relations  with  all  his 
men,  and  American  was  the  language  of  those 
trenches.  There  was  none  of  the  stiffness  which 
belongs  to  the  European  system.  We  passed  the 
cemetery  of  Carency,  where  many  French  lie 
buried.  That  was  the  bill  for  the  French  captm-e 
of  the  sector  landmarked  by  the  Lorette  ridge  and 
the  Souchez  sugar  refinery,  near  which  our  walk 
through  the  trenches  took  us. 

It  was  a  dull  day.  There  was  a  desultory  fu'ing 
back  and  forth,  and  shells  were  whistling  over  and 
bursting  around  us.  The  "whizz-bangs"  impressed 
me  most,  although  it  was  difficult  to  believe  that 
there  were  possibilities  of  personal  damage  in  any 
of  them.  Now  and  then  a  section  of  trench  had 
been  obliterated  by  shell  fire,  and  you  had  to  crawl 
through  a  sea  of  fresh-made  mire,  which  sucked  the 
top-boots  off  your  feet.  The  trenches  were  waist- 
deep  in  watery  mud.  The  general  raced  along, 
sure-footed  as  a  cat  on  the  back  fence,  while  I 


GLIMPSES  AT  THE  FRONT         37 

slipped  and  slid  on  the  lattice-work  which  formed 
the  foot-path,  a  misstep  from  which  meant  a  bath 
in  the  trench  soup. 

A  walk  back  through  a  mile  or  two  of  communi- 
cation trench  rejoicing  in  the  name  of  Cabaret, 
brought  us  out  on  a  road  at  a  point  which  seemed 
to  me  well  back  on  the  lines.  I  was  frankly  re- 
lieved in  body  and  spirit  to  reach  the  open  ground 
again  and  said  to  the  general  that  this  was  probably 
safe  country.  "Oh,  yes,"  he  replied  cheerfully, 
"but  when  I  came  out  here  yesterday  at  this  very 
point,  there  lay  a  soldier  freshly  dead.  A  shell  had 
caught  him  as  he  walked  along  this  road. 

"What  you  have  seen  will  doubtless  make  you 
think  that  the  life  of  a  soldier,  specially  during  the 
spring  thaw,  is  an  intolerable  one,  but  men  ac- 
custom themselves  to  it,"  said  General  Watson,  who 
is  a  philosopher  as  well  as  a  soldier.  "Human  be- 
ings in  youth  put  off  and  on  habits  of  body  and 
mind  as  readily  as  they  do  a  suit  of  clothes.  In 
the  conditions  you  have  been  seeing  there  is  a  re- 
turn to  the  elemental.  Men  do  not  think  of  danger 
or  death,  or  even  for  a  moment  of  home  and  loved 
ones.  Food  and  rest  become  the  subjects  upon 
which  the  thoughts  dwell." 

As  General  Watson  made  these  observations  he 
maintained  a  kind  of  dog-trot  a  few  paces  ahead 
of  me.  I  could  only  keep  up  by  breaking  into  a 
run  now  and  then,  specially  as  my  steel  helmet, 


38   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

worn  as  a  protection  from  shells,  gave  me  some 
trouble,  and  it  was  necessary  to  slow  up  now  and 
then  to  readjust  the  chinstrap.  The  general's  gait 
reminded  me  of  the  wolf's  as  I  had  seen  it  on  the 
Texas  prairies.  He  did  n't  seem  to  be  going  fast, 
and  it  added  to  my  difficulties  that  the  walk  had 
rather  winded  me.  He  proposed  an  extension  of 
our  promenade  to  another  part  of  the  front;  but 
I  did  n't  want  to  overtax  his  hospitality. 

"Well,"  said  he,  "I  '11  tell  you  what  I  '11  do. 
We  Ve  got  a  raid  on  for  to-night,  and  I  '11  let  you 
go  out  in  the  rear  of  it,  as  it  will  give  you  a  chance 
to  see  something  real."  I  thanked  him,  but  replied 
that  Times  Square  "looked  pretty  good"  to  me,  and 
that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  was  n't  so  young  as  I 
looked. 

Well,  when  we  got  back  to  the  car,  I  climbed 
in  a  bit  stiff;  to  sit  down  had  never  before  seemed 
such  a  luxury.  After  a  few  restful  moments  I  re- 
gained the  courage  of  my  curiosity.  I  asked  the 
general  about  his  soldiers. 

"When  we  got  here,"  said  he,  "maybe  we  were  n't 
much  good,  but  we  were  as  good  as  anybody  else. 
War  was  a  new  game;  even  the  trained  men  had 
to  begin  again  and  learn  their  A.  B.  C.'s.  There 
was  the  equality  and  fraternity  of  ignorance." 

"Who  are  the  best  of  the  soldiers  now?"  I 
asked. 

There  was  a  lurking  smile  in  his  quiet,  gray  eyes, 


GLIMPSES  AT  THE  FRONT        39 

and  I  imagined  that  he  was  thinking  of  the  kilted 
men  of  his  motherland  or  of  his  own  brave 
Canadians,  but  this  is  what  he  said: 

"The  bravest  soldier  in  the  world  is  the  English 
officer.  I  salute  him.  There  is  none  other  like 
him.  He  does  n't  need  to  lash  himself  into  a  pas- 
sion to  get  out  one  hundred  per  cent,  of  his  courage. 
He  will  walk  right  up  to  death  twirling  his  cane. 

"The  fact  is,"  continued  the  general,  again 
dropping  into  the  philosophical  vein,  "that  men  of 
our  race,  whether  in  England,  Canada,  or  the 
United  States,  while  equal  to  anj^  other  in  patriot- 
ism, are  dominated  by  the  spirit  of  adventure.  It 
is  what  is  sometimes  called  sporthig  instinct  that 
brings  us  across  the  seas  to  the  scene  of  danger." 

AVhen  in  the  evening  I  told  the  English  officers 
of  the  Canadian's  tribute  to  them,  they  almost 
violated  the  rule  of  a  lifetime,  that  every  show  of 
feeling  must  be  sternly  repressed. 

General  Watson  was  strong  on  two  things;  that 
Fritz  had  lost  his  morale,  and  that  the  British  forces 
had  just  begom  to  develop  their  full  fighting  spirit. 
He  was  serenely  sure  of  his  Canadians,  and  his  eyes 
danced  as  they  surveyed  on  the  map  the  two 
thousand  3^ards  of  front  that  had  been  turned  over 
to  three  Canadian  divisions  on  the  firing  line,  the 
very  hottest  corner  that  could  be  picked  out  and, 
therefore,  just  to  their  liking. 

I  honestly  believe  that  those  sports  of  England 


40   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

and  Canada  would  be  tremendously  disappointed 
if  the  Germans  on  their  own  should  pick  up  and 
move  back  thirty  miles  without  a  struggle.  They 
want  to  dig  Fritz  out  of  his  hole.  They  want  to 
have  a  go  at  the  chemical  attack.  They  have  a 
theory  that  the  much  vaunted  dug-out  where  Fritz 
has  hid  himself  and  planted  his  guns  is  precisely 
the  trap  in  which  the  English  hunter  can  run  his 
quarry  to  earth.  They  are  bursting  with  the  spirit 
of  novelty  in  regard  to  their  new  five-inch  and 
seventeen-inch  guns.  They  want  to  try  out  Fritz 
a  bit  more  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

We  went  back  to  headquarters,  where  the  others 
drank  tea  while  General  Watson  and  I  talked  war 
and  journalism.  He  asked  me  about  newspaper 
conditions  and  for  the  first  time  learned  the  price 
of  print  paper  in  America.  He  had  literally  not 
had  time  or  heart  to  acquaint  himself  with  matters 
of  such  vital  personal  importance.  I  hated  to  leave 
this  gallant  gentleman  of  my  own  craft.  His 
fellowship  and  sympathy  brought  home  to  me  more 
than  ever  before  that  on  these  bloody  fields  our  own 
battle  for  liberty,  our  habits  of  thought  and  speech, 
our  kind  of  honor  and  manliood,  was  being  fought 
for.^  Watson  cheerily  assured  me  as  we  drove 
away  to  G.  H.  Q.  that  he  would  see  me  in  Times 
Square  within  a  year  or  so. 

1  Something  like  this  actually  happened  only  a  few  days  later. 


GLIMPSES  AT  THE  FRONT        41 

That  same  evening  I  went  with  Captain  Fowler 
to  the  chateau  in  the  neighborhood,  where  the  in- 
telligence department  is  established  under  the 
capable  superintendence  of  Colonel  Wilson.  Here 
live  the  seven  newspaper  men  who  tell  the  world 
about  the  war.  After  a  merry  dinner  I  had  a 
chance  of  making  the  fm'ther  acquaintance  of  these 
iwar  correspondents.  Two  of  them,  Small  of  the 
Associated  Press,  and  Sims  of  the  United  Press, 
are  from  Atlanta.  I  was  much  interested,  of 
course,  in  Philip  Gibbs,  the  briUiant  correspondent 
with  whose  descriptions  the  "Times"  readers  are 
familiar.  His  genius  is  recognized  by  all  his 
colleagues.  Another  interesting  fellow  is  Mon- 
tague of  the  "JManchester  Guardian,"  who  overcame 
the  age  discjualification  for  service  by  painting  his 
white  hair  raven  black.  He  has  just  been  promoted 
to  a  captaincy.  Russell  is  the  Renter  man,  while 
Filson  Young  looks  after  the  Northcliffe  interests, 
and  Tomlinson  represents  "The  London  Daily 
News."  Cars  are  furnished  to  these  men  by  the 
Government,  but  they  pay  for  the  upkeep.  The 
correspondents  are  constantly  on  the  front,  and  the 
press  is  most  fortunate  to  have  such  capable  rep- 
resentation. 

I  thought  I  had  already  seen  mountains  of  muni- 
tions, miles  of  lorries,  countless  marching  soldiers, 
but  it  was  only  when  I  went  to  the  Somme  front 
proper  that  I  saw  the  real  thing.     From  Albert 


42   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

to  Pozieres  and  thence  to  Contralmaison,  Mon- 
tauban,  Mametz,  and  Trone  Wood,  the  scenes  wit- 
nessed on  February  24  would  have  challenged  de- 
scription by  Sir  Walter  Scott.  The  day  was  not 
one  for  either  air-planes  or  guns,  and  the  trenches 
were  comparatively  quiet.  It  was  just  as  foggj^  as 
it  could  be  to  be  so  rainy,  and  raining  as  hard  as 
it  could  be  to  be  so  foggy.  On  the  tops  of  the 
hills  the  roads  were  knee-deep  in  mud  and  water, 
but  the  macadam  was  hard  underneath  it  all,  and 
through  the  muck  there  swarmed  such  a  press  of 
men  and  machinery  as  perhaps  had  never  been  seen 
before  in  all  the  history  of  the  world. 

Through  the  mire,  rain,  and  fog,  in  as  desolate 
a  picture  as  lust  of  power  ever  drew,  the  fresh  men 
marched  blithely  to  their  stations  in  the  trenches. 
The  contrast  between  the  soldier  who  came  out  and 
the  one  going  in  was  vivid.  You  could  get  a  smile, 
by  giving  him  one,  from  every  man  marching  to 
certain  distress  and  suffering  and  possible  death; 
but  the  men  coming  back  thought  only  of  rest  and 
very  little  of  that,  for  they  were  dead  on  their  feet. 

The  impression  that  I  got  from  these  scenes  was 
that  the  late  general,  who  remarked  that  "war  was 
hell"  was  just  talking  through  his  hat.  He  did  n't 
know  anything  about  it.  Only  around  Bapaume 
and  places  like  it,  in  this  nineteen  hundred  and 
seventeenth  year  of  the  Christian  era,  has  the  devil 
staged  his  real  show  on  this  planet,  and  if  I  may 


GLIMPSES  AT  THE  FRONT        43 

enlarge  the  metaphor,  it  is  not  alone  the  kaisers 
who  have  been  the  advance  agents  and  managers. 
They  would  have  been  powerless  without  the 
unconscious  cooperation  of  the  spuriously  pious, 
like  the  Haldanes  and  Ramsay  JMacDonalds  of 
England.  The  same  breed  are  working  over- 
time to  help  open  the  doors  of  America  to  the  hell 
of  war  by  weakening  our  manliood  and  thus  render- 
ing us  helpless. 

July  17, 1917.  Not  far  from  Etaples  are  located 
several  American  hospitals  that  have  rendered  ex- 
ceptional service  to  the  British  forces.  The  group 
includes  the  Northwestern  University  unit,  with 
two  thousand  beds;  Harvard,  with  two  thousand, 
four  hundred  and  Ease  Unit  No.  5,  with  eighteen 
hundi'cd.  The  latter  is  the  one  with  which  Dr. 
Harvey  Cushing  of  Harvard,  among  others,  is 
identified.  There  are  ten  thousand  beds  altogether 
in  these  hospitals.  Major  Clark  Collins  of  the 
United  States  Army  is  in  general  charge.  Con- 
sidering the  conditions,  the  hospitals  are  run 
splendidly.  Though  they  have  no  sewer  system, 
they  are  kept  fresh  as  paint  and  thoroughly  sani- 
tary. Each  hospital  is  receiving  a  daily  average 
of  about  one  hundred  new  patients.  Trench  fever 
comes  next  to  wounds  in  supplying  cases.  Trench 
foot,  which  used  to  be  so  troublesome,  has  been  over- 
come by  preventive  treatment. 


44   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

We  had  a  peep  into  a  machine-gun  school, 
where  the  advantages  of  the  various  guns  were 
explained.  The  Lewis  gun  is  in  high  favor  owing 
to  its  light  weight,  about  twenty-five  pounds.  It 
fires  forty-eight  bullets  and  is  most  effective  at  five 
hundred  yards,  though  it  will  cany  one  thousand. 
The  Vickers  is  much  heavier,  but  does  its  work  at 
a  range  of  twenty-eight  hundred  yards  and  fires 
two  hundred  and  fifty  cartridges.  Machine-guns 
now  furnish  part  of  the  barrage-fire. 

A  tank  school  was  one  of  the  show  things,  and 
one  of  the  much  described  monsters  was  in  action, 
greatly  to  the  wonder  and  amusement  of  the 
visitors.  A  fine  body  of  troops  marched  past;  they 
were  tank  men.  Our  captain  said  that  theirs  was 
the  most  heroic  service,  as  death  by  burning  was 
their  almost  inevitable  fate.  When  I  mentioned 
this  to  an  infantry  lieutenant  he  smiled  in  a  superior 
way. 

VICTORY   SPIRIT   ON    BRITISH   FRONT 

Saturday,  September  29,  1917.  Never  before 
have  I  found  conditions  so  favorable  on  the  British 
front  as  they  appeared  this  week.  A  fortnight  ago 
London  began  to  show  restlessness  at  the  suspended 
movement  east  of  Ypres,  and  a  portion  of  the  press 
was  demanding  an  explanation  from  Field-Marshal 
Haig.  He  gave  it  in  the  action  that  began  on  the 
Menin  Road  on  the  twentieth. 


GLIMPSES  AT  THE  FRONT         45 

The  effect  of  that  and  other  favorable  develop- 
ments turned  London  optimistic,  but  on  the  battle- 
front  there  is  a  quiet  solid  confidence  that  will  not 
be  changed  by  the  ups  and  downs  of  the  British 
offensive.  There  is  no  under-estimation  of  the 
German  Army,  but  among  officers  and  men  alike 
exists  the  calm  assurance  that  the  enemy  calls 
arrogance.  They  feel  that  they  have  Fritz's 
measure  at  last,  that  they  have  learned  all  his  tricks 
and  adapted  the  best  of  them  to  their  own  use.  Be- 
fore they  go  into  action  nowadays  every  detail  is 
rehearsed  over  and  over  again.  Not  only  every 
squad,  but  every  man  knows  exactly  what  to  do. 
The  barrage  is  timed  to  the  minute,  and  they  make 
the  fullest  use  of  its  protection  with  minimum 
danger  to  themselves. 

I  saw  a  division  headquarters  field  war  vaudeville 
including  the  following  features: 

Almost  immediately  overhead  captive  balloons 
were  observing  the  Boche  lines,  about  four  miles 
distant.  The  German  guns  were  firing  at  the  bal- 
loons, and  black  splotches  left  by  the  bursting  shells 
were  always  visible,  while  the  sound  of  shrapnel 
falling  to  the  earth  was  plainly  audible.  A  Ger- 
man air-plane  suddenly  came  out  of  the  northeast 
and  attacked  one  balloon  with  a  machine-gun,  bring- 
ing it  down,  the  pilot  dropping  in  a  parachute  and 
escaping  unhurt.  The  British  anti-aircraft-guns 
opened  fire  promptly,  but  the  German  got  away. 


46   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

It  was  Saturday  afternoon  and  sports,  includ- 
ing polo  and  base-ball  were  in  full  swing;  they  were 
not  interrupted.  To-day  a  short  distance  behind 
the  hottest  portions  of  the  line  thousands  of  men 
who  may  take  part  in  to-morrow's  attack  at  dawn, 
and  who  know  it,  enjoy  the  Saturday  sports  as  light- 
heartedly  as  if  this  were  an  old-time  London  week- 
end. And,  indeed,  the  war  has  settled  down  into 
an  immense  business.  The  novelties  and  surprises 
have  all  been  exploited  or  exploded';  the  inequalities 
of  military  expertness  have  been  evened  up,  and 
the  war  changes  are  now  measured  by  weights.  By 
the  inexorable  test  of  numbers  and  machinery  the 
German  Army  faces  defeat  in  Flanders,  and 
British  confidence  in  the  sure  result  gives  a  peculiar 
zest  to  to-day's  sports  on  the  divisional  fields. 

PILL-BOX   SMASHING,    JOY   TO   CANADIANS 

I  am  just  back  from  the  British  front.  I  did  n't 
see  a  single  long  face  there.  Even  among  the 
Tommies,  who  on  previous  visits  seemed  to  show 
traces  of  trench  fatigue  and  hardship,  I  saw  only 
contentment  and  expectancy.  It  may  have  been 
partly  the  weather,  which  was  fine,  or  because  I 
was  thrown  mostly  with  the  cheery  Canadians.  In 
the  main,  however,  I  think  the  greatly  improved 
tone  was  due  to  the  solid  improvement  in  the  posi- 
tion at  the  front.  A  great  confidence  has  spread 
among  all  troops  since  the  solving  of  the  riddle  of 


GLIMPSES  AT  THE  FRONT        47 

the  pill-boxes.  Eveiybody  believes  now  that  even 
if  the  cunning  Boche  should  put  out  something  new, 
there  would  be  again  a  solution. 

After  three  or  four  visits  to  the  Lens  neighbor- 
hood I  am  beginning  to  feel  very  much  at  home 
there.  One  of  the  most  historic  areas  of  the  whole 
war  is  that  through  which  flows  the  small  stream 
dignified  by  the  name  of  Souchez  River.  For  the 
comparatively  small  territory  drained  by  this  spring 
branch,  as  we  would  call  it  in  the  South,  the  Alhes 
have  paid  a  price  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives. 
As  I  stood  near  the  ruins  of  the  Souchez  sugar  re- 
finery I  had  a  broadside  view  of  the  ridge  of  Notre 
Dame  de  Lorette,  taken  by  the  French  from  the 
Germans — who  had  it  thoroughly  intrenched  and 
gunned — with  only  the  rifle  and  bayonet.  It  was 
costly,  but  it  had  to  be  done.  Turning  to  the  east, 
one  sees  within  a  mile  the  slope  of  the  famous  Vimy 
Ridge,  where  the  best  blood  of  Canada  was  spilled 
to  drive  the  Germans  out  of  a  key  position.  A  mile 
or  two  beyond  the  summit  are  the  Labyrinth,  Neu- 
ville  St.  Vaast,  and  to  the  northeast  is  Vimy 
village.  The  environs  of  Lens  are  also  visible. 
The  famous  Souchez  Wood,  which  consists  only  of 
dead  trees  and  stumps,  was  filled  with  soldiers 
cutting  and  sawing  wood  for  winter  use.  They 
told  me  that  the  tree-trunks  and  limbs  were  so  full 
of  shrapnel  that  it  often  broke  the  saw  teeth. 

This  part  is  teeming  with   Canadian  soldiery. 


48   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

Day  and  night  it  is  raucous  with  the  sounds  of 
war.  Enemy  shells  are  shrieking  through  the  air 
and  bursting  at  uncomfortable  distances,  and  the 
Allied  cannon  reply  with  sharper  reports.  Nobody 
pays  any  attention.  War  is  a  settled  business, 
and  every  one  is  too  much  absorbed  in  the  routine 
of  it  to  think  about  personal  danger. 

I  spent  a  good  bit  of  an  afternoon  walking  about 
on  the  top  of  Vimy  Ridge.  Taking  it  from  the 
Germans  was  a  wonderful — on  the  face  of  it,  an 
impossible — feat.  The  general  who  had  me  in 
tow  said:  "I  never  could  understand  why  the 
Roche  let  us  push  him  off  this  ridge.  It  never 
seemed  to  me  that  he  had  to." 

The  hill  ends  in  an  abrupt  slope  to  the  north- 
east, affording  perhaps  the  best  obsei*vation  point 
between  Arras  and  Kimmel  Hill,  at  Messines. 
We  stood  and  watched  the  show — a  very  little  one 
from  the  military  standpoint,  but  indescribably 
wonderful  measured  by  what  we  used  to  think  in 
peace  days — for  almost  an  hour.  The  whole  Lens 
landscape  lay  before  us,  the  enemy  front-line 
trenches  within  two  miles  of  us.  The  electric  sta- 
tion and  the  slag  heaps,  which  have  been  fought 
over  so  fiercely,  were  well  within  view.  The 
enemy  was  keeping  up  an  energetic  fire  on  the 
Canadian  trenches  in  front  of  us  and  the  observa- 
tion balloons  behind  us.  We  counted  a  hundi'ed 
shellbursts  in  and  about  Vimy,  about  a  mile  from 


BRITISH    TROOPS    DISEMBARKING    AT    A     FRENCH    PORT 


ARRIVAL    OF    GENERAL    PERSHING    AT     BOULOGNE-SUR-MER 


GLIMPSES  AT  THE  FRONT         49 

us,  at  the  foot  of  the  ridge.  There  must  have  been 
thirty  shots  at  the  observation  balloons,  whose  task 
of  watching  him  seemed  to  infuriate  Fritz.  A 
squadron  of  English  planes  of  Gotha  type  flew  over 
us  at  an  altitude  of  about  twelve  thousand  feet 
and  looking  like  white  pigeons. 

One  balloon  was  the  object  of  concentrated  at- 
tack, and  the  observer  was  compelled  to  take  to 
his  parachute,  as  the  Germans  seemed  to  have  the 
range,  and  shrapnel  was  bursting  all  around.  We 
were  at  least  two  miles  nearer  the  German  guns 
than  were  the  balloons,  and  we  could  hear  the 
shrapnel  falling  all  around,  with  an  occasional 
shell-burst  in  the  vicinity  to  make  us  understand 
that  we  were  technically  "under  fire." 

They  told  me  in  Northern  France  that  a  census 
of  horses  and  mules  in  the  British  Army  would 
show  at  least  half  a  million  head.  Three  inferences 
seemed  to  me  to  be  clear.  The  first  was  that  the 
motor  has  n't  driven  out  horseflesh  by  any  means ; 
the  second  was  that  cavalry  is  coming  back  to  some 
extent — which  was  confirmed  by  streams  of  it  seen 
on  the  roads, — and  the  third  was  as  to  the  size  of 
the  British  Army  in  France.  If  any  one  knows 
the  figures  he  declines  to  tell;  so  a  guess  from  the 
number  of  horses — a  very  rough  process,  one  must 
confess — is  about  as  good  as  any  other. 

The  increasing  number  of  women  employed  back 
of  the  front  is  worthy  of  remark.     One  sees  scores 


50   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

of  women  in  uniform  driving  ambulances,  and  they 
seem  to  be  doing  it  cleverly.  They  certainly  look 
smart  as  they  flash  by.  I  spoke  of  that  to  the 
Tommy  who  was  driving  me.  He  snarled  back 
that  every  one  of  these  female  drivers  had  to  be 
helped  by  a  male  mechanician. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   FLIGHT   FROM   BERLIN    HOME   WITH   GERARD 

To  reach  home  in  comparative  safety  James  W. 
Gerard,  the  former  United  States  Ambassador  to 
Germany,  was  compelled,  in  sailorman  phrase,  to 
fetch  a  wide  compass.  When  he  landed  at  Havana 
to-day  he  had  traveled  fifty-seven  hundred  miles 
from  Berlin,  and  before  New  York  is  reached  his 
journey  will  have  been  longer  than  the  voyage 
from  Shanghai  to  San  Francisco. 

Germany  has  been  a  beleagured  city  under  the 
strictest  martial  law,  and  only  since  the  Americans' 
departure  from  Berlin  has  the  world  been  informed 
correctl)'^  of  inside  conditions. 

Mr.  Gerard  has  preserved  all  his  public  records 
and  documents.  His  general  knowledge  of  Ger- 
many is  drawn  from  the  best  sources.  He  has  a 
retentive  memory,  a  special  talent  for  narrative, 
and  a  nice  sense  of  humor.  His  purpose  is  to  bring 
his  book  out  promptly  while  the  matters  treated  are 
fresh  and  public  interest  is  keen. 

Mr.  Gerard  is  very  matter-of-fact  and  would  be 
the  last  man  to  parade  a  pious  purpose,  but  I  think 
that  his  chief  motive  is  to  enlighten  America  on  the 

51 


52   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

European  situation  and  help  to  make  the  United 
States  a  nation  instead  of  a  mumbo- jumbo  of  sec- 
tions, States,  and  races  without  national  conscious- 
ness or  purpose. 

It  has  been  stated  in  an  American  magazine  that 
the  sea  currents  attract  most  of  the  loose  mines 
from  the  west  of  England,  the  channel,  and  the 
French  coast,  and  assemble  them  just  off  the  north- 
west tip  of  Spain.  It  was  precisely  over  this  spot 
that  the  Spanish  liner,  the  Infanta  Isabel,  plowed 
her  way  around  Cape  Finisterre  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  on  the  night  of  February  27. 

Mr.  Gerard  has  been  through  an  ordeal  in  Berlin 
almost  unexampled  in  diplomatic  history.  Friends 
in  Berlin,  who  were  in  a  position  to  have  real  infor- 
mation, had  given  him  a  Lusitania-like  warning 
against  sailing  from  Spain.  There  were  known  to 
be  spies  at  his  heels  in  Madrid,  and  on  board  the 
ship  were  special  suspects,  but  as  he  sat  with  me 
after  dinner  that  evening  off  Cape  Finisterre  JNIr. 
Gerard,  with  the  quiet  smile  that  his  friends  all 
know,  talked  of  the  floating  mine-field  as  if  it  were 
miles  away. 

All  the  same,  the  former  ambassador  was  near  the 
end  of  his  rope  when  he  disembarked  at  Corunna. 
There  is  a  limit  to  human  endurance,  and  he  had 
reached  it.  Mrs.  Gerard  was  very  anxious  to  have 
him  get  complete  rest  on  the  voyage,  and  under 
her  skilful  management  each  day  had  shown  an 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  BERLIN       53 

improvement  in  the  envoy's  mental  and  physical 
state.  ]Mrs.  Gerard  herself  has  stood  the  strain  in 
a  way  that  only  women  can,  but  she  will  be  glad 
to  get  back  to  the  rest  and  relaxation  of  home. 

Mr.  Gerard  is  a  natural  diplomat,  with  manner 
considerate  and  habits  democratic.  Each  day  en 
voyage  he  gathered  the  correspondents  and  trans- 
lated the  Marconi  messages  received  by  the  ship. 
He  is  a  good  linguist.  When  he  went  to  Berlin 
he  realized  that  he  must  learn  German  and  French 
and  diligently  took  up  the  study  of  these  languages, 
acquiring  sufficient  facility  in  both  to  hold  conver- 
sations and  read  newspapers,  a  very  un-American 
thing  to  do,  but  most  useful  in  enabling  the  am- 
bassador to  hold  real  intercourse  with  his  fellows 
and  keep  himself  posted  on  German  conditions 
through  the  newspapers.  On  shipboard  he  has 
carried  about  a  Spanish  grammar  and  dictionary, 
putting  in  his  spare  moments  in  polishing  up  his 
Spanish  partly  learned  years  ago  in  Mexico. 

Mr.  Gerard  neither  drinks  nor  smokes,  and 
spends  any  idle  time  in  picking  up  information  on 
any  subject  coming  within  his  orbit,  a  practice  that 
in  the  long  run  accumulates  a  big  stock  of  general 
information.  At  fifty  years  he  has  a  boy's  interest 
in  everything  that  passes.  His  mental  methods 
are  very  precise,  and  he  never  wanders  from  his 
point.     Such  a  man  ought  to  go  far. 

The  ambassador  returns  home  without  any  per- 


.U      FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

manent  plans.  Either  law  or  his  Mexican  interests 
might  receive  his  attention,  but  he  will  have  no 
heart  for  private  matters  until  his  duties  as  an 
American  citizen  have  been  fully  discharged.  He 
has  no  solemnity  and  does  not  take  himself  over- 
seriously,  but  if  I  judge  him  rightly,  the  facts  stored 
up  in  his  mind  are  going  to  be  made  fully  available 
for  the  guidance  of  the  United  States  before  Mr. 
Gerard  will  consider  himself  free  for  private  activ- 
ities. There  will  be  no  gi'and-stand  methods,  but 
when  he  finishes,  I  predict  that  many  of  the  present 
uncertainties  will  vanish. 

Much  as  Mr.  Gerard  was  honored  in  Switzerland, 
France,  and  Spain,  his  real  ovation  would  have  been 
in  England,  but  his  decision  not  to  visit  London  at 
this  time  did  credit  to  his  judgment  and  taste. 

Barring  the  subconscious  sense  of  risk  and  ad- 
venture, the  voyage  from  Corunna  to  Havana  was 
without  incident.  The  Infanta  Isabel  is  a  steam- 
ship of  ten  thousand  tons.  She  is  owned  in  Cadiz, 
and  is  usually  in  the  South  American  trade,  but  she 
is  now  engaged  chiefly  in  bringing  immigi'ants  from 
Galicia  in  northwest  Spain  to  Cuba,  which  explains 
the  call  at  Corunna.  These  immigrants  are  called 
*'Swallows"  here,  because  they  return  home  in  the 
autumn  after  enjoying  remunerative  employment. 

The  Infanta  Isabel  seemed  the  best  and  safest 
ship  availal)]e  when  Mr.  Gerard  got  ready  to  leave. 
The  Spanish  may  be  slow  in  some  things,  but  this 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  BERLIN       55 

company  saw  a  profit-making  opportunity  in  trans- 
porting the  Gerard  part}^  and  went  to  it  like  a  fire 
department  to  a  general  alarm.  The  fares  av- 
eraged about  three  hundi-ed  dollars  a  berth.  Six- 
teen hundred  and  sixty  immigrants  pay  sixty-six 
dollars  a  head.  They  belong  to  Galicia,  the  only 
Spanish  province  where  willingness  to  work  is  gen- 
eral among  the  population. 

When  we  boarded  the  Infanta  Isabel  we  found 
that  she  carried  seventeen  life-boats  rated  by  the 
Company  as  capable  of  carrying  fifty  each,  or  a 
total  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty.  As  the  total  num- 
ber of  persons  aboard  was  two  thousand,  at  the 
very  best  over  eleven  hundred  persons  would  have 
had  to  be  abandoned  in  case  of  accident. 

Optimism  and  geniality  prevailed  in  the  saloon, 
but  there  was  some  anxiety  at  the  back  of  every- 
body's head.  Fritz  is  a  crazy  fellow  on  the  sea, 
and  there  was  no  knowing  what  might  happen  if 
war  were  declared  on  the  voyage. 

One  day  a  rumor  spread  that  the  course  of  the 
ship  had  been  suddenly  altered  to  avoid  a  raider, 
the  new  Moewc,  rej^orted  near  by  a  passing  steamer. 
Discussion  brought  out  the  fact  that  several  Amer- 
icans on  board  the  ship  Imew  the  commander  of 
the  31  oewe.  Count  Dohna,  personally.  They  had 
a  high  regard  for  him,  and  believed  that  he  would 
behave  gallantly  if  we  fell  in  with  him. 

One  vexation  of  the  voyage  was  the  unsatis- 


56      FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

factory  wireless  news.  We  were  left  absolutely  in 
the  dark  as  to  the  extent  of  the  loss  of  life  on  the 
Laconia  and  whether  the  sinking  constituted  a  casus 
beUi. 

The  adjournment  of  Congress  was  reported,  but 
there  was  nothing  definite  about  any  delegation  of 
power  to  the  President. 

The  German  scheming  to  entangle  INIexico,  which 
was  apparently  tantamount  to  a  declaration  of  war 
against  America  by  Germany,  got  us  excited. 

After  discussing  the  situation  in  Germany  for 
eleven  days,  my  conclusion  is  that  the  shortage  of 
food  is  more  serious  than  has  been  believed  outside. 
The  present  condition  is  not  one  of  actual  starva- 
tion, but  there  is  much  suffering  in  spots,  and  Ger- 
many faces  a  crisis  between  now  and  harvest.  Un- 
less the  submarine  war  prospers,  Germany  can 
hardly  escape  an  upheaval. 

One  doctor  on  board  the  ship  tells  me  that  even 
with  his  unusual  facilities  he  was  much  reduced  by 
the  lack  of  fats,  and  when  he  reached  Zurich  he  was 
so  ravenous  that  he  made  himself  ill  by  devouring 
everything  greasy.  Lack  of  fats  caused  an  in- 
cessant gnawing,  and  nothing  would  "stick  to  his 
ribs."  His  stomach  had  no  food  reserve,  and  in- 
testinal digestion  was  suspended. 

The  misery  resulting  from  the  food  conditions 
is  observable  in  every  face.  The  Government  took 
all  possible  precautions,  but  while  sixty  per  cent. 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  BERLIN       57 

turnips  could  make  bulk,  it  could  n't  make  nutri- 
ment. A  thick  soup  of  cabbage  and  turnips,  a  bit 
of  meat,  and  a  trace  of  grease  could  be  bought  at 
the  community  kitchens  in  the  cities  for  six  cents 
(thirty  pfennigs)  and  bread  at  one  cent  a  slice,  but 
thirty  minutes  after  eating  one  was  hungry  again. 

The  diet  gave  no  power  of  resistance  to  the  cold. 
The  Americans  who  serve  as  prison  inspectors  say 
that  even  with  huge  furs  they  almost  froze  this 
winter. 

Mothers  and  babies  are  without  milk,  and  the 
suffering  is  great.  While  the  effect  of  the  food 
conditions  on  the  public  morale  is  temporarily  off- 
set by  hysterical  loyalty,  in  the  end  physical  causes 
must  prevail  over  psychological. 

The  present  semistarvation  contrasts  with  what 
the  Americans  would  consider  gluttony  before  the 
war,  when  it  was  not  unusual  for  a  prosperous  Ger- 
man to  eat  seven  meals  a  day.  The  full  stomach 
was  regarded  as  the  sovereign  remedy  for  all  ills. 
The  early  stages  of  reduced  diet  benefited  some 
people,  but  that  point  has  long  been  passed. 

Throughout  these  trying  times  the  German 
women  have  been  showing  splendid  nerve.  They 
are  taking  men's  places  at  manual  labor.  Many 
assure  me  that  if  the  women  are  called,  they  will 
respond  in  tremendous  numbers,  game  to  perform 
many  trench  tasks  if  they  do  not  actually  do  full 
military  duty. 


58   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

The  moral  and  social  conditions  are  entirely  un- 
like old  Germany.  In  high  society  spying  and  in- 
trigue prevail.  Nobody  trusts  anybody,  and  con- 
versation is  all  insincerity  and  deception.  While 
the  unwritten  law  still  holds  among  the  nobility, 
the  laws  regulating  divorce  are  a  dead  letter. 

Soldiers  at  the  front  and  wives  at  home  are  freed 
from  marital  restraints.  Illegitimate  births  now 
reach  twenty-five  per  cent,  in  Berhn,  and  even  more 
in  Bavaria,  and  the  percentage  is  increasing. 

Popular  taste  on  the  stage  calls  for  a  murder  in 
every  act,  and  the  big  theatrical  successes  reek  with 
morbid  details. 

The  tendencies  in  Germany  to  rule  womankind 
with  a  rod  of  iron  have  been  emphasized  by  the 
war.  Men  use  women  roughly  and  punish  them 
physically  for  trifling  faults.  Women  are  treated 
as  recognized  inferiors,  and  they  don't  resent  it. 

Such  are  some  of  the  effects  of  baffled  militarism 
upon  the  Germans.  They  went  into  this  war  ex- 
pecting a  three  months'  picnic.  The  resistance,  fol- 
lowed by  a  threatened  defeat,  has  produced  a  per- 
versity that  breaks  out  as  described. 

This  is  not  to  say  that  Germany  is  all  bad.  I 
have  heard  stories  of  some  splendid  self-sacrifice 
in  all  circles.  Some  of  the  aristocracy  voluntarily 
adopt  short  commons,  and  potato  rations  are  passed 
to  guests  in  palatial  houses  by  liveried  sei*vants. 

German  heroism  in  the  army  and  navy  is  just  as 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  BERLIN       59 

fine  as  in  any  countries,  but  the  curse  of  centuries 
of  militarism  is  heavy  upon  the  people.  Napoleon 
said  that  "Prussia  was  hatched  from  a  cannon  ball," 
and  she  is  paying  the  price  for  what  she  has  inflicted 
upon  Europe  not  only  by  punishment  in  battle,  but 
in  the  recoil  upon  herself  of  her  own  savage  force. 

One  point  absolutely  free  from  contradiction 
among  the  American  refugees  is  Germany's  entire 
faith  in  the  submarine.  Differences  on  the  subject 
have  disappeared,  and  the  people  all  want  the  cam- 
paign pressed  home  regardless  of  consequences. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  in  Germany  that 
within  three  or  four  months  England  will  be  starved 
into  submission. 

The  situation  in  regard  to  America  is  very  simple. 
The  result  of  the  submarine  war  will  be  so  con- 
clusive, it  is  argued,  that  America  will  not  matter. 
Germany  does  not  believe  in  America's  fighting 
inclination  or  ability.  The  rupture  with  the  United 
States  came  as  a  complete  surprise.  She  has  al- 
ways thought  that  President  Wilson  was  bluffing, 
and  that  America  was  afflicted  with  some  sort  of 
disability  on  the  fighting  side.  Never  since  Mr. 
Bryan  assured  Ambassador  Dumba  that  the  mil- 
itant tone  in  the  early  notes  was  for  effect  in  Amer- 
ica has  Berlin  believed  that  President  Wilson  fully 
meant  what  he  said  or  would  in  any  circumstances 
go  to  war. 

Our  conduct  towards  Mexico  has  tended  to  con- 


60   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

firm  the  German  theory.  The  way  we  handled  mil- 
itary activities  allayed  an}^  German  fear  of  America 
as  a  militaiy  opponent.  As  one  correspondent  put 
it,  *'When  America  waited  a  week  for  Pullmans 
to  send  the  militia  to  Mexico,  Germany  stopped 
fighting  one  whole  day  to  have  a  loud  laugh."  Ger- 
many is  glad  to  get  freight-cars  with  straw  in  the 
bottom  for  transporting  soldiers. 

The  particular  American  thing  that  Wilhelm- 
strasse  worries  about  is  money.  She  can  get  along 
without  it  by  swapping  jack-knives  with  herself,  but 
a  few  billions  mean  much  to  England  and  France 
just  at  this  time. 

Then  there  are  those  ten  million  persons  of  Ger- 
man stock  whom  Germany  is  just  beginning  to  rate 
accurately  as  Americans  instead  of  Germans. 
When  the  hysterics  over  submarines  permit  the 
thought,  Germany  cannot  help  recalUng  that  the 
United  States  is  terribly  big  with  its  one  hundred 
and  ten  million  population;  that  it  has  a  useful 
navy;  that  in  ingenuity  and  industry  it  leads  the 
world ;  and  that,  finally,  its  action  will  have  a  potent 
influence  on  Entente  morale. 

For  all  this  Germany  had  a  clever  Uttle  scheme 
if  only  a  cog  had  n't  slipped.  It  was  to  give  Amer- 
ica something  to  think  about  on  the  Pacific.  The 
Berlin  contingent  had  previous  knowledge  of  this 
Mexico-Japanese  conspiracy,  and  were  keen  for  de- 
tails when  the  wireless  brought  the  bare  announce- 


THE  FLIGHT  FROM  BERLIN       61 

ment.  As  one  journalist  put  it  at  the  time,  instead 
of  really  meaning  peace  when  proposing  it,  "Beth- 
mann's  design  was  a  rainbow  painted  on  a  drop 
scene  which  was  meant  to  rise  again  on  a  very  ugly 
tableau." 

There  is  an  agreement  of  opinion  on  this  steam- 
ship that  if  war  breaks  out,  America  should  make 
war  from  the  word  "Go."  Germany  rehes  upon 
American  indecision,  procrastination,  and  general 
amateurishness,  and  will  herself  cover  her  prepara- 
tions for  the  most  cruel  blow  by  an  outward  show 
of  reluctance.  It  is  felt  that  "Hit  quick  and  hard" 
should  be  the  motto.  War  with  Spain  and  Mexico 
furnishes  no  basis  of  comparison  for  action  against 
a  power  that  knows  the  war  game  backwards. 

Everybody  who  has  seen  Germany  is  praying  for 
President  Wilson  to  throw  personal  and  political 
considerations  to  the  winds,  open  a  new  book  of 
war  policy,  and,  irrespective  of  part}^  write  in  it 
the  names  of  the  best  men  in  America  to  help  the 
President  to  use  America's  vast  resources  against 
the  enemy.  To  fight  Germany  with  Algers  and 
Shafters  because  such  men  are  friends  of  the  admin- 
istration or  because  their  dismissal  would  give  pain 
is  looked  upon  by  Americans  returning  from  the 
European  theater  as  unthinkable. 

England  has  just  dismissed  Asquith  for  waiting, 
and  France  has  relieved  glorious  old  Papa  Joffre 
because  he  was  wilUng  to  give  ground  at  Verdun 


62   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

if  necessary  to  save  precious  French  lives.  Let 
America,  say  returning  citizens,  begin  at  the  point 
reached  by  these  countries,  instead  of  incurring  huge 
costs  in  time,  money,  and  men  by  learning  by  actual 
experience.  At  such  a  time  party  lines  mean  no 
more  "than  boundary  lines  in  Noah's  flood." 


CHAPTER  VI 

AMERICAN   MEN   OF   THE   WAR 
GENERAL   PERSHING 

August  14,  1917.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  other 
man  has  been  more  in  the  public  eye  of  Europe 
these  last  few  weeks  than  General  John  J.  Pershing. 
The  English  and  French  public  have  watched  Gen- 
eral Pershing  with  the  interest  that  centers  in  the 
head  of  one  of  the  greatest  movements  the  world 
has  ever  seen. 

General  John  Pershing  has  been  a  leader  all  his 
life.  He  took  charge  of  his  father's  farm  in  Mis- 
souri at  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  taught  country 
school  for  three  years.  He  wanted  to  be  a  lawyer, 
and  refused  an  appointment  to  the  naval  academy 
at  Annapolis.  At  seventeen,  while  attending  the 
State  normal  school,  he  determined  to  enter  for 
the  examination  for  West  Point.  He  won  against 
sixteen  other  contestants.  He  was  cadet  captain 
and  was,  and  is  still,  captain  of  his  class.  This  com- 
bination is  still  a  unique  distinction. 

Pershing  has  constructive  abilities  of  a  high  order 
as  was  shown  by  his  work  in  the  Philippines.     He  is 

63 


64   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

a  field  soldier,  a  fighting  man  with  an  acknowledged 
superiority  for  training  soldiers. 

Pershing  is  deeply  optimistic.  Neither  middle 
age  nor  trial  has  narrowed  or  embittered  him.  He 
has  the  rare  combination  of  optimism  and  dignity 
and  restraint.  One  feels  his  warmth  and  sympathy 
at  the  fii'st  contact,  and  the  effect  is  enhanced  by 
a  certain  shyness  of  manner.  He  impresses  you  as 
much  by  what  he  refrains  from  saying  as  by  what 
he  says.  You  feel  that  he  is  a  man  who  will  not 
"spare  his  stroke"  in  action,  but  will  never  offend 
good  taste.  He  has  that  nice  balance  that  is  some- 
times more  than  mental,  a  combination  of  good  sense 
and  right  feeling. 

He  is  a  very  sincere  man.  Every  officer  asso- 
ciated with  him  swears  by  his  sterling  quality.  He 
has  what  is  commonly  called  magnetism.  One  will 
not  often  meet  a  man  with  more  of  it  than  belongs 
to  the  commander  of  the  American  expeditionary 
force. 

Pershing  is  a  name  to  conjure  with  in  Paris  just 
now.  To  mention  the  fact  of  having  come  over  in 
the  same  ship  with  him  is  enough  to  attract  a  crowd. 
In  a  fruit-store  where  I  was  buying  some  cherries 
the  proprietress,  detecting  that  I  was  an  American, 
said  triumphantly,  "Oh,  I  have  seen  your  gen- 
eral !"  I  told  her  I  had  sailed  across  the  ocean  with 
him.  Her  face  expanded  into  a  smile,  and  she 
emitted  a  long  "A-h-h-h-h !"     Then  she  tried  to  per- 


AMERICAN  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     65 

suade  me  to  accept  the  cherries  as  a  token  of  her 
regard  for  General  Pershing  in  particular  and 
America  in  general. 

General  Pershing  has  a  pretty  good  knowledge 
of  French,  enough  to  read  the  French  papers 
without  difficulty.  He  is  naturally  a  bit  timid 
about  trying  to  speak  in  French,  but  I  suspect 
that  he  is  taking  lessons  and  will  soon  get  back 
what  he  has  forgotten  and  add  some  more.  He 
has  enough  French  to  enable  him  to  take  advantage 
of  diplomatic  opportunities  as  they  present  them- 
selves. For  example  at  the  Opera  Comique  last 
night,  when  in  the  intermission  a  toast  was  offered 
''A  VAmeriquer  he  promptly  came  back  with  "A 
notre  France^  It  was  an  instantaneous  hit  to 
"make  a  marriage,"  as  the  French  say,  between  the 
two  countries. 

His  diplomacy  is  remarkable.  It  rests  largely 
on  a  sincere  heart  and  a  fine  presence.  He  feels 
just  what  he  acts,  and  he  acts  with  a  natural  sense 
of  the  fitness  of  things.  Another  factor  in  the  won- 
derful impression  made  here  is  a  certain  gift  of 
soldier-like  speech  possessed  by  Pershing.  The 
other  night  at  M.  Painleve's  dinner  after  the  host 
had  spoken  the  diners  all  looked  toward  the  guest 
of  honor.  The  general  turned  to  Ambassador 
Sharp  and  said,  "Am  I  expected  to  say  something?" 
M.  Painleve  heard  the  question  and  answered  it 
with  "Oui,  oui."     General  Pershing  rose  and  spoke 


66   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

a  few  sentences.  They  were  entirely  extempora- 
neous; he  never  prepares  anything.  His  words 
have  been  quoted  everywhere  in  private  conversa- 
tion and  have  had  a  fine  effect  on  the  French  pubhc. 

As  a  diplomat,  I  doubt  if  he  is  surpassed  in  the 
service  of  any  country.  He  begins  with  the  advan- 
tage of  looks,  though  he  has  none  of  the  drawbacks 
of  masculine  pulchritude.  If  a  sculptor  were  com- 
missioned to  make  a  heroic  statue  to  represent  West 
Point,  he  could  n't  do  better  than  take  General  Per- 
shing as  his  model.  Nor  is  he  merely  a  military 
figure.  His  personality  is  equally  typical  of  the 
best  American  strength  and  manhood. 

These  personal  attractions  and  graces  are  used 
with  a  naturalness  that  won  Paris  instantly.  I 
doubt  if  there  is  another  man  of  any  race  who  at 
this  moment  could  bring  to  bear  a  greater  influence 
on  a  Paris  crowd  if  occasion  should  demand  it.  It 
may  be  set  down  as  a  certainty  that  in  all  dealings 
with  the  French  public  and  in  his  relations  with  the 
statesmen  and  generals  the  American  commander 
will  "do  his  country  proud." 

No  less  promising  are  what  may  be  called  his 
business  methods.  He  is  devoted  to  his  work.  He 
never  tires  of  the  routine  and  he  never  worries.  He 
is  a  perfectly  healthy,  normal  man.  There  is  not 
an  iota  of  morbidity  in  his  composition. 

During  the  period  of  misunderstanding  and  mis- 
carriage in  the  censorship  I  had  frequent  occasion 


AMERICAN  MEN  OF  THE  AVAR     67 

to  talk  to  him  and  must  have  expressed  my  sense 
of  grievance  with  considerable  emphasis.  He  en- 
couraged me  to  do  so.     One  day  I  said  to  him: 

"General,  you  have  enough  responsibilities;  I  am 
not  going  to  worry  you  with  faultfinding  about  the 
censorship." 

"Well,  if  you  are  letting  that  idea  trouble  you, 
dismiss  it,"  he  replied  with  a  smile.  "I  don't  let 
anything  worry  me.  I  try  to  do  a  good  day's  work, 
and  when  it  is  finished,  I  go  to  bed.  And  what  is 
more,  I  go  to  sleep." 

A  wonderful  doctrine  if  a  man  can  only  live  up 
to  it!  And  General  Pershing  does  absolutely. 
Perhaps  it  is  largely  a  matter  of  sound  health. 
This  is  his  one  sensitive  point;  he  would  rather  be 
accused  of  dereliction  than  be  thought  ill. 

Perhaps  that  is  a  survival  of  the  farmer  boy's 
pride  of  strength.  The  farmer  boy  is  always 
bobbing  up  in  Pershing.  Linn  County,  Missouri, 
would  be  proud  to  see  the  evidences  of  her  early 
imprint  on  the  man  whose  farming  now  consists  in 
an  occasional  look  from  the  window  or  porch  at 
the  most  beautiful  garden  in  all  Paris,  for  such  is 
the  garden  of  the  great  house  that  Ogden  Mills  has 
lent  the  general.  This  is  a  garden,  Linn  County 
must  know,  not  for  vegetables,  but  for  flowers, 
trees,  and  green  grass.  It  is  behind  the  rue  de 
Varenne,  in  the  very  middle  of  Paris. 

General  Pershing's  don't  worry  policy  is  part  of 


es   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

a  philosophy  that  he  has  worked  out  and  that  he 
practises  in  his  daily  life.  He  believes  in  difficulty 
as  the  very  staff  of  opportunity.  A  man  that  could 
chase  Villa  wliile  enduring  Carranza  and  still  keep 
his  temper  and  serenity  has  a  right  to  be  consid- 
ered a  seasoned  optimist.  Even  war-worn  Europe 
seems  pretty  good  after  Mexico,  of  which  it  has 
been  sung: 

More  rivers  and  less  water. 
More  cows  and  less  milk, 
Further  to  look  and  less  to  see, 

than  any  other  country  in  the  world. 

General  Pershing  has  a  right  to  his  view  of  the 
relation  between  difficulty  and  opportunity.  If  he 
should  become  a  great  general,  a  co-deliverer  of 
civilization  from  the  onset  of  Hun  barbarism,  his- 
tory would  put  him  alongside  Lincoln  and  Grant 
in  respect  to  early  hardships  and  their  influence  on 
his  development. 

When  the  President's  address  of  April  2  reached 
Mexico  and  was  read  by  General  Pershing  at  his 
headquarters,  he  could  n't  restrain  his  enthusiasm. 
There  was  no  self-seeking  in  his  feeling.  He 
hadn't  then  the  faintest  idea  of  commanding  the 
European  forces.  He  was  deeply  stirred  by  the 
great  address  when  he  read  its  pregnant  and  elo- 
quent sentences,  and  jumping  to  his  feet,  gave 
his  feelings  full  vent  in  the  presence  of  the  soldiers 


AMERICAN  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     69 

and  newspaper  correspondents  who  happened  to  be 
in  his  headquarters. 

"I  'd  rather  hve  to-day  and  have  some  part  in 
these  great  things,"  he  said,  "than  to  have  Hved  and 
occupied  the  highest  station  at  any  previous  time  in 
history.  We  are  going  to  estabhsh  democratic  in- 
stitutions in  the  world  for  all  time,  and  every  man 
who  can  have  a  share,  however  small,  in  the  work 
may  be  proud." 

Such  is  the  type  of  man.  Whether  he  possesses 
the  diversified  abilities,  whether  he  can  be  the  many 
different  kinds  of  man  necessary  for  carrying  on  to 
the  end,  remains  to  be  seen.  But  he  has  the  gifts 
of  diplomacy  and  organization. 

General  Pershing  is  cautious  and  considerate. 
He  has  a  good  heart  and  an  abundant  sense  of 
humor.  Marshal  Joffre  said  to  me:  "General  Per- 
shing will  never  do  anything  rash.  He  will  con- 
sider first  and  act  afterward."  You  can  put  this 
over  against  what  an  English  statesman  with  Amer- 
ican associations  said  to  me  the  other  day  about  a 
great  executive  position,  "We  want  a  man  for  that 
job  who  is  willing  to  take  a  chance  of  spilling  the 
beans." 

COLONEL   HOUSE 

Colonel  House  is  the  son  of  an  Englishman  who 
settled  in  Texas  about  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. Contrary  to  the  general  idea.  House  is  not 
cold  and  reserved,  but  unusually  emotional.     The 


70   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

secret  of  his  success  is  his  self-discipline.  He  con- 
trols his  temper,  knows  how  to  wait  for  things  to 
come  about  of  themselves,  and  brings  to  the  carrying- 
out  of  all  his  schemes  a  persistency  as  amiable  as 
it  is  tenacious.  The  colonel  has  learned  in  business 
and  politics  that  it  pays  to  let  the  other  fellow  live. 
Instead  of  stamping  all  over  him  and  taking  his 
self-respect  away,  he  ministers  delicately  to  his 
vanity.  In  fact,  the  colonel  is  a  shrewd  student  of 
human  nature,  and  it  is  largely  through  the  use  of 
that  knowledge  that  he  wins  his  successes. 

As  is  well-known,  Colonel  House  is  slight  of 
stature  and  very  unpretending.  Those  seeing  him 
for  the  first  time  are  not  very  deeply  impressed. 
He  is  fond  of  telling  stories  illustrating  his  own  un- 
impressiveness.  And,  by  the  way,  a  more  frank, 
genial  companion,  it  would  be  hard  to  find. 

I  rather  imagine  that  he  sees  the  humorous  side 
of  his  own  importance  and  inmiense  activities  and 
mentally  harks  back  to  the  good  old  days  in  little 
old  Austin.  His  rule  of  life  would  not  permit  him 
to  experience  the  slightest  sense  of  self-importance 
as  the  result  of  the  unique  role  that  he  is  playing. 
That  would  spoil  the  game  as  he  desires  to  play  it. 
He  practises  such  rigid  simplicity  that  it  almost 
amounts  to  affectation.  What  other  men  com- 
monly do  to  push  themselves  to  the  front  he  studi- 
ously avoids.  If  he  can  dodge  an  ambassadorial 
dinner,  he  counts  it  a  point  won  in  his  little  game. 


AMERICAN  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     71 

"Mrs.  House  comes  along  to  attend  the  lunches  and 
dinners  that  I  am  obhged  to  miss,"  he  said  the  other 
day.  The  colonel  would  much  prefer  dining  alone 
with  an  old  friend  and  talking  about  amusing  ex- 
periences and  old  times  in  Texas. 

The  other  night,  referring  to  a  cablegi'am  that  we 
were  discussing,  he  asked  me  if  I  expected  to  send 
it.  I  replied  in  the  southern  lingo  that  we  both 
know:  "I  done  sent  it,"  At  that  a  broad  smile  lit 
up  his  gentle  face,  and  he  told  the  story  of  an  en- 
counter between  old  Bill  McDonald  and  Bat  JNIas- 
terson. 

"There  were  some  preliminaiy  proceedings  of  a 
hostile  character  between  the  two  famous  desper- 
ados, and  Bat  said  to  Bill,  'Are  you  trying  to  pick 
a  row  with  me?'  'I  done  picked  it,'  rephed  Bill, 
his  pistol  leveled  at  Bat  about  three  paces  away." 
The  colonel  might  himself  have  been  one  of  those 
mild  men  who  so  often  were  the  quickest  with  their 
guns  in  the  palmy  days  of  the  Texas  ranger. 

Colonel  House  has  always  been  rather  ostenta- 
tious in  his  avoidance  of  oratory.  In  fact,  if  he 
should  get  on  his  feet  without  a  manuscript  in  his 
hand,  his  tongue  would  probably  cleave  to  the  roof 
of  his  mouth.  He  dodged  the  spectacular  meeting 
in  the  cabinet  room  at  No.  10  Downing  Street  prob- 
ably because  he  thought  it  would  be  incumbent  upon 
him,  if  present,  to  act  as  Lloyd  George's  oratorical 
"opposite." 


72   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

In  Paris,  however,  the  time  came  when  a  speech 
was  required  of  him  by  the  proprieties.  The  oc- 
casion was  the  final  meeting  of  the  conference.  He 
had  the  speech  type-written  in  his  pocket,  and  he 
must  have  dehvered  it  with  some  effort  at  declama- 
tion, for  when  he  walked  into  the  Hotel  de  Crillon 
with  his  son-in-law  and  secretary,  Gordon  Auchin- 
closs,  the  latter  remarked,  "The  colonel  has  at  last 
broken  into  the  oratory  class,"  whereat  the  colonel 
blushed. 

Colonel  House  occupied  the  rooms  in  the  Crillon 
known  as  the  Thomas  F.  Ryan  suite.  It  is  in  these 
rooms  that  the  well-known  New  Yorker  always 
lives  in  Paris.  Adjoining  is  a  smaller  suite  that 
was  assigned  to  Lloyd  George.  From  the  prime 
minister's  privacy  every  one  was  rigidly  excluded, 
even  his  private  secretary  sitting  in  the  outside  hall. 
Contrariwise,  Colonel  House's  reception-rooms 
were  overrun  with  visitors  of  all  kinds  including 
representatives  of  the  press.  These  latter  got  veiy 
little  except  courtesy.  The  colonel  received  his 
company  in  an  inner  reception-room  well  guarded 
by  secretaries.  Mr.  Auchincloss  was  the  head  of 
the  secretarial  staff.  To  use  a  "darkey"  expression 
conveying  much,  this  young  man  has  got  "a  heap 
of  sense."  The  colonel  leans  on  him  and  Auchin- 
closs is  an  ever-present  help.  Like  his  distin- 
guished father-in-law,  he  does  not  take  himself  too 
seriously,  and  sees  the  himior  in  everything. 


AMERICAN  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     73 

Mrs.  House  goes  along  with  the  expedition 
quietly  and  helpfully.  She  is  never  in  the  way,  al- 
though Colonel  House  takes  her  everywhere  with 
him.  On  the  journey  to  the  American  camp  not 
only  Mrs.  House,  but  Mrs.  and  ]Miss  Sharp,  as 
well  as  the  colonel's  secretary,  Miss  Denman,  were 
of  the  party.  While  at  American  G.H.Q.  an 
officer  came  up  with  a  spiked  helmet  left  by  a  Ger- 
man officer  on  the  battle-field  of  the  Marne,  and 
presented  it  to  jVIrs.  House.  It  must  have  been  a 
souvenir  that  she  had  wanted  very  much,  for  she 
thanked  the  officer  again  and  again.  While  in- 
specting the  training-camp,  Colonel  House  was 
given  a  rifle,  and  fii*ed  several  shots  hke  ah  expert. 

At  the  Crillon,  as  at  other  hotels,  they  give  em- 
ployment to  wounded  soldiers.  One,  whose  bus- 
iness is  to  stand  in  front  and  open  carriage-doors, 
has  a  very  pleasing  personality.  He  wears  on  his 
breast  several  military  medals  won  in  the  trenches. 
One  day  when  IMrs.  House  came  out  she  noticed  the 
decorations  on  this  gallant  fellow  now  serving  in  a 
humble  capacity,  and  immediately  stopped  and 
came  to  a  salute  in  front  of  him.  He  immediately 
returned  the  salute  and  the  two  stood  facing  each 
other  for  a  few  seconds  before  JNIrs.  House  entered 
her  car.  It  was  a  pretty  incident,  specially  as  Mrs. 
House  thought  there  were  no  witnesses. 

December  1,  1917.     Lord  NorthcHffe  to-day  re- 


74   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

ferred  in  glowing  terms  to  the  American  mission 
to  the  AlHed  conference  and  its  worth,  repeating 
what  he  said  a  few  days  ago  about  Colonel  House's 
wisdom.  Concerning  the  junior  members  he  re- 
marked : 

"The  American  mission  is  suffering  from  the 
right  kind  of  disease,  youth.  I  dare  say  that  there 
are  those  who  would  like  to  see  their  places  filled 
by  lean  and  slippered  pantaloons,  with  long  beards, 
but  I  like  youngsters  best  for  results.  I  have  been 
in  daily  contact  with  them  at  the  conference,  and 
those  I  deal  with  are  live  wires,  fully  charged. 

"Colonel  House  has  reduced  the  vast  assemblage 
of  Allied  nations  to  a  series  of  small  business  com- 
mittees, and  thus  hot  air  was  entirely  eliminated 
from  the  start.  I  cannot  reveal  the  conference  se- 
crets, but  when  I  looked  at  the  gilded  chamber 
where  it  first  met,  and  realized  that  every  man  was 
loaded  with  a  speech,  my  heart  went  out  in  grat- 
itude to  the  wise  colonel  who  had  dammed  the  flood. 
As  it  was,  Clemenceau  in  his  opening  remarks  took 
less  than  two  minutes,  and  soon  our  meeting  broke 
up,  and  everybody  settled  to  work." 

NEWTON   D.   BAKER 

Secretary  Newton  D.  Baker  has  created  a  gen- 
erally good  impression  among  army  people,  and  in 
all  circles  abroad  the  talk  about  him  is  favorable. 


AMERICAN  MEN  OF  THE  WAR    75 

His  association  with  Tom  Johnson  in  Cleveland, 
his  supposed  pacifism,  and  an  unfortunate  slip  in  a 
campaign  speech  combined  to  start  a  kind  of  hue 
and  cry  against  him.  Parenthetically,  that  is  a 
kind  of  American  specialty.  We  laud  a  public 
man  to  the  skies  or  sending  him  hurtling  in  the  other 
direction  largely  as  our  mood  moves  us.  Over  here 
I  find  much  optimism  about  Baker.  He  is  re- 
garded as  a  "comer."  His  background  of  radical- 
ism, his  imagination,  his  intellectual  quality,  and  his 
open-mindedness  line  him  up  with  men  who  are 
doing  things  on  this  side  like  Lloyd  George  and 
Painleve.  Incidentally,  I  have  heard  from  more 
than  one  source  that  whatever  Secretary  Baker's 
bent  of  mind  may  have  been  with  regard  to  the  war 
back  in  Cleveland,  in  Washington  and  in  new  con- 
ditions he  is  a  war  man  to  the  hilt. 

From  the  political  point  of  view  his  natural  bias 
towards  liberalism  puts  him  in  tune  with  the  pre- 
vailing spirit  of  the  time,  and  he  may  cut  a  good 
deal  of  figure  in  public  aflPairs  before  the  war  and 
its  various  consequences  pass  away.  The  Bolshe- 
vist storm  now  raging  over  Russia  will  take  its 
course,  like  all  other  world  movements,  westward. 
Such  men  as  Mr.  Baker,  whose  convictions  are 
rooted  in  temperament,  and  who  are,  therefore, 
deeply  sincere  and  unchangeable  and,  while  sym- 
pathetic with  the  masses,  have  intellectual  training 


76   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

and  social  stability,  will  be  fit  interpreters  of  pop- 
ular instincts  and  aspirations  if  the  movement  re- 
ferred to  should  sweep  to  America. 


CHAPTER  VII 

FRENCH   MEN   OF   THE   WAR 
MARSHAL  JOFFRE 

May,  1917.  I  doubt  if  I  would  have  gone  to 
the  city  hall  but  for  one  thing.  I  wanted  to  see 
what  manner  of  man  Marshal  Joffre  was.  His 
photographs  and  the  accompanying  descriptions 
have  caused  most  of  us  to  visualize  a  jovial,  ro- 
tund man.  I  saw  a  man  very  different  from  that, 
and  yet  I  would  not  be  able  to  point  out  the  dif- 
ference point  by  point.  I  think  it  is  mostly  a 
matter  of  eyes.  A  photograph  cannot  convey 
subtleties  of  expression,  specially  those  of  the  eye, 
and  yet  they  make  all  the  difference. 

A  tremendous  and  spontaneous  outburst  signaled 
the  arrival  of  the  distinguished  visitors.  I  was  near 
the  rostrum  and  had  a  good  view.  Joffre  seemed 
to  me  to  walk  with  a  side-wheel  motion,  but  his  step 
was  firm  and  brisk.  All  the  delegation  took  their 
places  standing  at  the  back  of  the  platform,  the 
marshal  at  the  left,  or  north  end,  of  the  line.  I 
thought  I  could  see  him  breathing  a  bit  hard  from 
the  exertion  in  mounting  the  outside  steps,  but  if 
he  should  deny  it,  I  should  n't  press  the  point.     He 

77 


78   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

saluted  in  acknowledgment  of  the  applause,  and 
at  once  began  to  survey  the  crowd  with  keen  an- 
alytical eyes.  He  held  his  red  cap  with  gold  em- 
broidery in  a  gloved  left  hand.  I  noted  at  once 
that  he  looked  somewhat  younger  than  I  had  fan- 
cied him.  He  appeared  to  take  careful  stock  of  the 
audience  up-stairs  and  down.  When  his  glance  en- 
countered General  Leonard  Wood,  his  face  softened 
into  a  smile,  but  I  saw  no  salutation. 

He  has  a  head  that  suggests  squareness  in  shape, 
large  but  hardly  massive.  I  should  say  that  he 
wore  a  seven-and-one-half  hat.  He  had  on  the 
usual  blue  jacket  and  red  trousers,  with  tan  leggings 
and  tan  shoes — Bluchers,  if  I  may  be  allowed  the 
word.  His  hands  and  feet  were  appropriate  to  his 
size  and  weight.  I  should  guess  him  at  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty  pounds,  and  five  feet  eleven 
inches  in  height.  He  stands  up  straight  and  keeps 
his  body  still.  I  didn't  see  him  move  his  feet  or 
legs  in  the  course  of  the  whole  hour  or  more, 
but  his  eyes  were  restless,  and  he  often  wet  his  lips. 
He  showed  no  embarrassment:  he  was  as  uncon- 
cerned as  if  he  had  been  under  fire  on  a  battle-field, 
and  his  smile  was  not  as  much  in  evidence  as  I  ex- 
pected. The  waves  of  cheering  made  him  rather 
shut  his  lips  tighter.  When  Mayor  Mitchel  enum- 
erated the  list  of  prominent  people  who  had  assem- 
bled, the  marshal  knitted  his  brows  as  if  slightly 
puzzled. 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR       79 

He  has  the  poise  of  a  great  soldier.  He  stood  for 
minutes  together  with  his  cap  held  behind  him  in 
his  left  hand  and  his  right  hanging  at  his  side.  His 
face  is  less  heavy  than  it  has  been  pictured.  He 
has  still  enough  hair  to  save  him  from  baldness. 
He  has  rather  deep-set  gray  eyes,  and  seems  to 
have  a  slight  defect  in  one  of  them.  It  is  a  droop 
of  the  lids.  Instead  of  detracting,  it  adds  to  his 
impressiveness.  I  was  reminded  of  Henry  Watter- 
son,  who,  to  my  way  of  thinking,  is  the  noblest 
figure  that  has  appeared  on  the  platform  in  Amer- 
ica in  my  time.  There  is  a  noticeable  resemblance 
between  the  two  men.  Both  have  the  leonine  qual- 
ity. Joffre's  complexion  suggests  the  wine  of  the 
country  in  moderation. 

He  will  go  down  in  history  as  "Papa"  Joffre, 
but  I  should  say  that  gravity  and  authority  are 
stronger  than  tenderness  in  the  paternal  character 
for  which  he  is  famous. 

Next  to  me  stood  a  famous  business  man  who 
has  been  prominently  connected  with  certain  phases 
of  the  war.  I  asked  him  for  the  reason  of  Joffre's 
popularity  in  America.  "Foreigner  that  he  is,  he 
is  almost  the  idol  of  the  American  people,"  he  re- 
plied. "The  people  of  the  country  appreciate  the 
fact  that  at  the  Mame  Joifre  saved  civilization." 
My  neighbor  has  stated  the  simple  fact.  I  began 
to  study  the  figure  in  front  of  me  with  a  fresh  in- 
terest.   He  is  precisely  a  man  that  should  have  been 


80   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

the  hero  of  the  Maine,  the  greatest  battle  in  its  re- 
lation to  man's  permanent  interests  that  the  world 
has  ever  seen. 

At  the  moment  of  greatest  peril  to  the  greatest 
nmnber  in  the  histoiy  of  this  planet  it  was  a  man 
of  Latin  race — a  man  probably  without  a  drop  of 
any  but  Latin  blood  in  him,  and  yet  the  very  embod- 
iment of  sturdiness  and  poise — who  stood  forth  as 
the  leader.  For  the  emergency  the  man  had  been 
raised  up.  The  army  and  the  nation  rallied  to  him, 
and  a  new  France  was  born. 

He  did  his  work,  and  yv^hen  the  time  came  to  give 
way  to  tliose  who  had  not  spent  themselves,  he 
answered  the  call  quietly,  as  he  had  done  that  other 
call  in  August,  1914. 

And  now  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  country 
that  he  has  served  so  well  he  comes  on  this  far 
mission.  No  other  man  in  the  world  would  be 
quite  so  welcome  as  he  in  this  country. 

He  could  scarcely  have  aroused  greater  interest 
and  emotion  if  he  had  still  been  in  active  command 
of  the  French  armies.  To  the  American  mind  the 
prefix  "ex"  usually  conveys  disillusion,  but  Joffre 
has  sunk  deep  into  the  American  consciousness,  and 
vicissitudes  of  rank  do  not  affect  the  glamor  that 
surrounds  his  name. 

Such  a  man  as  Joffre  must  be  appraised  by  his- 
tory and  posterity.  His  merit  on  the  technical  side 
only   soldiers   can   determine.     It  is   in  point   of 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR       81 

character  and  citizenship  that  he  seems  to  me  to 
merit  the  greatest  measure  of  esteem  and  gratitude. 
I  was  in  Europe  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  knew 
of  the  poignant  anxiety  that  came  home  to  Alhed 
countries  after  the  battle  of  Mons.  All  who  were 
informed  as  to  the  facts  realized  that  the  Germans 
possessed  the  only  military  machine  in  existence. 
After  the  sudden  fall  of  Namur  it  realized  that 
nothing  short  of  a  miracle  could  save  Paris  and  the 
channel  ports.  The  English  could  and  did  put 
into  the  field  eight  divisions  of  good,  seasoned 
troops.  The  French  had  a  serviceable  army  in 
point  of  numbers,  and  there  were  generals  who  knew 
strategy  and  tactics.  The  great  question  was 
whether  there  was  a  Man  with  a  capital  JNI  among 
them. 

The  French  are  wonderfully  responsive  to  lead- 
ership, and  the  inquiry  in  everybody's  mind  during 
those  days  of  August  and  September  was  whether 
the  emergency  would  produce  the  leader.  Out  of 
the  doubt,  the  darkness,  and  the  terror  of  that  period 
came  Joffre,  and  the  thing  about  Joffre  that  stood 
out  from  the  very  first  was  not  his  generalship 
about  which  a  layman  could  know  little  or  nothing, 
but  his  character.  He  was  so  different  from  what 
we  had  conceived  to  be  the  French  temperament. 

When  we  thought  of  the  French  we  thought  of 
grace,  power  of  expression,  art,  volatility,  yes, 
grandiloquence.     We  believed  that  glory,  or  its  de- 


82   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

lusion,  was  more  to  them  than  truth.  We  expected 
to  hear  from  Paris  a  story  of  the  defeat  of  Charleroi 
in  poesy  and  martial  music,  and  after  the  Marne 
we  feared  a  sudden  tumble  following  the  usual  self- 
glorification. 

Suddenly  in  front  of  France  there  stood  this  man 
whom  we  have  been  seeing  in  America.  To  see 
him,  in  my  opinion,  is  almost  the  gi*eatest  privilege 
and  distinction  we  have  enjoyed  since  Lincoln's 
day.  With  beetling  brow  and  keen  eye  he  sur- 
veyed the  scene,  saw  the  realities,  arranged  an  or- 
dered plan,  put  an  end  to  mental  confusion,  ex- 
orcised the  devil  of  hysteria,  and  got  down  to  a 
basis  of  common  honesty  and  common  sense  as  far 
as  the  army  was  concerned. 

I  remember  that  after  Charleroi  or  Mons  Joffre 
was  asked  why  he  suffered  defeat  there,  and  by  a 
second  question  he  was  encouraged  to  say  that  the 
Enghsh  failed.  "The  EngHsh  to  blame?"  he  re- 
plied in  effect.  "Not  at  all.  They  did  splendidly, 
giving  us  much  more  help  on  the  short  notice  than 
we  had  any  right  to  expect." 

"What  was  the  trouble  then?" 

"My  own  generals.  They  were  inexperienced, 
inefficient.  We  could  n't  stand  against  the  superior 
expertness  of  the  enemy." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?" 

"I  have  already  acted.  I  've  put  those  officers 
out  and  put  new  ones  in." 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR       83 

And  he  had. 

That  candor  and  honesty  and  utter  freedom  from 
buncombe  in  a  French  general  were  like  a  rainbow 
of  hope  and  promise. 

From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  Joffre's  com- 
mand there  was  not,  so  far  as  I  could  observe,  a 
single  word  or  act  that  did  not  contribute  to  stabil- 
izing France  on  the  new  plane.  Though  he  is  all 
a  Frenchman,  his  traditions  and  methods  are  more 
like  those  we  have  immemorially  associated  with  the 
British.  Not  a  single  exaggerated  statement  has 
ever  come  from  him.  His  record  has  been  a  con- 
stant and  stern  reproof  to  political  levity  in  Paris, 
and  an  example  to  those  who  would  be  honest  and 
faithful. 

It  may  almost  be  said  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  a  fact  in  this  war.  Censorships  have  thrown  a 
curtain  over  it  all,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  history 
will  rescue  the  whole  truth  about  the  war  from  the 
caves  of  mystification  and  contradiction.  The  most 
prevalent  story  about  Joffre's  retirement  is  that  he 
wanted  to  give  gi*ound  at  Verdun  in  order  to  save 
French  man  power,  which  had  reached  exhaustion 
point.  They  thought  that  the  suggestion  sounded 
as  if  he  might  be  getting  old  and  so  promoted  him 
to  Paris.  As  a  matter  of  fact  they  but  followed  his 
own  policy.  Men  are  like  electric  batteries;  use 
pulls  the  "juice"  out  of  them. 

Not  one  additional  fact  about  the  war  is  needed 


84   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

to  assure  to  Marshal  Joffre  first  place.  He  not 
only  saved  civilization,  but  he  remade  a  nation. 
Joffre  is  the  Father  of  France  in  that  he  instituted 
and  established  the  habit  of  mind  and  force  of  char- 
acter which  have  raised  that  country  to  sublime 
heights  of  consecration  and  sacrifice. 

MARSHAL   JOFFRE   IN   PARIS 

July  3,  1917.  Marshal  Joffre  did  me  the  honor 
to  receive  me  to-day  at  his  office  in  the  Ecole 
Superieure  de  Guerre.  The  interview  was  a  per- 
sonal one,  granted  me  largely  on  the  score  of  my 
being  an  American. 

When  I  suggested  making  some  extracts  from 
the  conversation  for  publication  in  "The  Times," 
the  Marshal  consented  reluctantly  and  only  on  my 
plea  that  their  publication  might  tend  toward 
strengthening  the  ties  between  our  countries. 

Marshal  Joffre  is  an  interesting  study  here  as  he 
was  in  America.  In  his  own  setting  he  is  an  even 
nobler  figure  than  as  I  saw  him  at  the  City  Hall 
reception  in  New  York.  Yet  somehow  he  seems 
to  be  apart  from  the  French  type  as  we  conceive 
that  type.  I  talked  with  him  through  Lieutenant 
de  Tessan,  who  kindly  acted  as  interpreter,  and 
I  had  a  chance  to  observe  him  closely  for  nearly 
an  hour,  sitting  vis-a-vis  to  him  at  his  flat-topped 
desk. 

I  wish  I  could  give  my  impressions  without  either 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR       85 

adjectives  or  superlatives,  to  which  his  moderate 
and  thoughtful  personahty  administers  silent  re- 
proof. He  scarcely  made  a  gesture.  There  was 
none  of  the  changes  in  tone  used  with  such  effect 
by  the  French  to  give  emphasis  and  significance 
to  the  spoken  word.  There  was  always  the  same 
restrained  use  of  a  very  gentle  voice.  Every  one 
in  America  noted  that  the  marshal  often  half-closed 
his  eyes.  That  must  have  been  an  effort  to  focus  as 
against  a  defect  of  far  sight.  I  saw  the  half-closed 
eyes  only  once  to-day,  and  that  was  at  the  suggestion 
of  using  the  talk  as  an  interview. 

Our  appointment  was  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  the 
marshal  did  not  keep  me  waiting  a  single  minute, 
a  promptness  unusual  in  European  officialdom. 
He  met  me  with  quiet  cordiality.  When  I  began 
to  ask  questions  through  Lieutenant  de  Tessan,  the 
Marshal  was  somewhat  alarmed  and  said  that  we 
could  have  a  much  more  interesting  conversation 
if  it  was  understood  that  there  was  to  be  no  inter- 
view. Above  all,  he  would  shrink  from  being  put 
in  an  attitude  of  telling  America  what  to  do  or  of 
speaking  a  single  word  that  might  be  mistaken  for 
criticism. 

Knowing  that  he  and  General  Pershing  had 
formed  a  friendship,  I  introduced  our  commander's 
name.     Marshal  Joffre  replied: 

"I  met  General  Pershing  in  America  and  was  at 
once  struck  by  his  poise.     My  acquaintance  with 


86   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

him  here  has  confirmed  my  early  impression. 
Forethought  and  steadiness  seem  characteristic  of 
him.  I  do  not  think  he  would  act  hastily  or  rashly. 
He  weighs  his  actions  carefully.  Of  course  he  is 
a  fine  soldier  with  admirable  training.  In  my  judg- 
ment America  could  not  have  placed  command  of 
an  expeditionary  force  in  better  hands.  As  Amer- 
ica has  put  so  much  of  her  resources  into  this  enter- 
prise and  as  she  is  going  to  be  all-powerful  in  fin- 
ishing this  war,  she  is  particularly  fortunate  in  se- 
curing a  leader  who  thinks  before  he  acts.  We  have 
talked  much  together,  and  I  like  his  ideas  on  mil- 
itary matters  as  much  as  I  admire  his  fine  person- 
ality. 

"The  arrival  of  General  Pershing  and  his  staff 
made  an  impression  in  France  of  the  seriousness  and 
strength  of  America.  Now  that  the  troops  have 
landed,  the  impression  is  renewed  and  strengthened. 
It  shows  that  you  are  setting  to  work  in  good  ear- 
nest, 

"It  is  a  fine  beginning.  I  can  only  say,  keep 
it  up,  increase  the  speed,  and  never  stop  until  you 
have  accomplished  what  you  set  out  to  accom- 
plish. The  arrival  of  American  troops  on  time  and 
without  a  mishap  reflects  credit  on  your  Govern- 
ment, and  encourages  the  belief  that  the  submarine 
does  not  present  a  barrier  to  the  transport  of  troops 
across  the  ocean  which  cannot  be  overcome  bj?-  the 
organization  and  utilization  of  your  resources. 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR       87 

"All  that  has  happened  confirms  my  judgment 
of  America  as  formed  before  and  during  my  visit. 
I  was  very  much  impressed  by  the  rapidity  with 
which  Americans  make  up  their  minds  and  still  more 
by  their  quickness  of  action  afterward.  What  I 
want  to  see,  what  I  expect  to  see,  is  continuity  of 
action  on  a  rising  scale,  no  let  up  for  a  single  mo- 
ment. The  way  to  win  the  war  quickly  is  to  bring 
to  bear  every  ounce  on  and  behind  the  fighting  line. 
Peace  will  come  through  the  hardest  possible  fight- 
ing at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  With  her  re- 
sources of  men  and  finance  America  will  strike  the 
finishing  blow  that  will  bring  an  end  of  hostilities. 

"I  came  back  from  America  convinced  of  what 
that  country  was  doing  and  could  do.  What  I  saw 
there  I  repeat  now.  Bring  men  here;  bring  them 
as  fast  as  possible.  Train  them  in  trench  and  other 
European  methods  here  within  the  influence  of 
actual  war.  That  is  the  one  school  for  a  soldier. 
We  want  men,  men,  men  not  only  for  actual  fight- 
ing, but  for  work  of  all  kinds.  It  is  natural  that 
the  ranks  of  labor  should  have  suifered  depletion 
in  these  three  years.  We  need  men  to  work  on 
roads,  men  to  build  and  repair  railroads,  men  for 
the  telegraph  and  telephone,  men  for  lumbering, 
men  for  every  sort  of  labor — not  all  of  it  necessarily 
military  or  militarized,  but  all  contributing  as  truly 
and  honorably  to  winning  the  war  as  the  fighting 
itself." 


88   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

The  marshal  made  these  points  with  quiet  earnest- 
ness. When  he  had  finished,  I  asked  him  what  had 
struck  him  most  forcibly  in  his  travels  through 
America.  He  considered  a  moment  and  then  re- 
plied: 

"The  deepest  impression,  perhaps,  was  that  of 
the  combination  of  the  two  contrasting  quahties 
in  the  American  character.  Although  the  people 
are  great  in  their  material  interests  and  achieve- 
ments, they  have  lofty  and  noble  ideals.  I  mention 
two  proofs.  America  comes  into  this  war  without 
a  shadow  of  direct  material  interest,  purely  to  se- 
cure and  establish  the  independence  of  nations. 
The  second  proof  is  the  veneration  in  which  those 
who  have  striven  for  high  ideals  are  held  by  the 
people.  The  names  of  Lincoln,  Washington, 
Grant,  and  Lafayette  are  universally  revered." 

The  marshal  showed  deep  feeling  in  referring  to 
this  characteristic  of  ours  that  we  ourselves  take 
much  as  a  matter  of  course. 

"How  do  the  crowds  of  New  York  compare  with 
those  of  Paris,  the  welcome  to  you  there  and  that 
to  Pershing  here?"  I  asked. 

"They  are  difficult  to  compare,  they  are  so  dif- 
ferent," said  the  marshal.  "The  New  York  crowd 
can  make  a  greater  volume  of  sound  because  it  is 
bigger.  We  have  been  cut  down  by  war.  But  I 
do  not  concede  that  any  crowd  could  feel  a  deeper 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR       89 

enthusiasm  than  ours  on  June  13  felt  for  General 
Pershing." 

I  assured  the  marshal  that  America  would  look 
forward  to  another  visit  from  him. 

"Yes ;  I  want  very  much  to  go  back  after  the  war 
and  take  JNIme.  Joff  re  with  me,"  he  rephed. 

At  the  end  the  marshal  tried  out  his  English  vo- 
cabulary on  me. 

"Good-by,"  he  said,  with  a  hearty  handshake. 

I  went  out  through  two  spacious  anterooms,  the 
first  tenanted  by  Colonel  Fabry,  "the  blue-devil  of 
France,"  who  gave  me  a  cordial,  American-like 
greeting.  In  the  second  I  stopped  at  a  window 
that  commands  a  close  view  of  the  Ferris  Wheel 
and  the  Eiffel  Tower,  and  tried  to  fix  in  my  mind 
a  firm  impression  of  Marshal  Joffre's  personality 
while  it  was  fresh  and  in  some  terms  familiar. 

The  rule  that  no  painting  can  take  its  place 
among  the  immortals  of  the  Louvre  until  the  artist 
is  dead  applies  also  to  men.  History  will  give 
IVIarshal  Joffre  his  rating.  He  seems  to  me  a  great 
historic  figure,  less  perhaps  for  his  technical  mil- 
itary genius  than  for  his  moral  and  temperamental 
leadership. 

His  example  and  influence  set  France  on  quiet 
ways  that  led  to  her  successful  resistance  of  Ger- 
many's onset.  This  quietness,  bigness,  and  stead- 
iness are  his  outstanding  characteristics.    He  has 


90   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

not  an  iota  of  self -consciousness  or  personal  vanity. 
The  great  moral  quality  in  him  is  enhanced  by 
a  certain  effect  of  sadness  that  seems  to  hover  about 
his  personality. 

PETAIN 

August,  1917.  On  the  tablelands  constituting 
the  divide  between  the  waters  that  flow  to  Havre 
by  the  Marne  and  the  Seine  on  the  west  and  those 
that  seek  the  sea  by  the  Meuse,  past  Verdun  and 
Liege,  great  leaders  have  trained  their  armies  for 
thousands  of  years.  It  was  here  that  Caesar's  le- 
gions were  encamped.  There  is  a  long  hill,  with  a 
broad  flat  back,  commanding  a  wide  view  in  every 
direction,  that  appeals  to  both  the  utilitarian  and 
artistic  sense  of  the  French,  and  it  was  here  that 
Petain  came,  bringing  Pershing  with  him,  to  review 
the  famous  Alpine  Chasseurs  Division. 

After  the  European  fashion  of  weather  it  was 
a  glorious  morning.  A  few  fleecy  clouds  tempered 
the  heat  of  the  simimer  sun  and  staged  the  stunts 
of  an  aviator  who  brought  a  brand-new  car  of  a  chic 
pattern  to  put  the  very  last  touch  of  modernity  on 
the  scene. 

I  had  not  come  for  the  beautiful  work  of  the  crack 
division,  the  perfect  marching  of  the  infantrj^  the 
fine  horsemanship  of  the  cavalry,  the  smooth 
handling  of  the  artillery,  the  inspiring  music  of  the 
regimental  bands,  or  even  the  presentation  of  hon- 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR       91 

ors  to  the  heroes,  who  had  earned  their  laurel  wreath 
over  and  over  again.  I  was  interested  in  General 
Petain  and  in  the  comparison  between  him  and  the 
other  great  leaders  of  the  war  who  had  come  under 
my  observation:  Woodrow  Wilson,  Lloj^d  George, 
and  Joffre.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that  Pe- 
tain is  not  only  a  soldier.  There  may  be  men  upon 
whom  are  conferred  reserve  powers  greater  than 
his,  President  Wilson,  David  Lloyd  George,  per- 
haps. But  in  actual  power  daily  and  hourly  called 
upon,  possibly  Petain  does  lead  all  others,  for  he 
is  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  in  the  coun- 
try where  the  war  is  being  fought. 

He  was  distributing  medals  when  I  first  saw  him. 
A  line  of  men  about  twelve  in  number  was  advanced 
in  front  of  the  division  formation.  A  space  sep- 
arated them  into  two  groups.  An  officer  read  out 
an  account  of  the  service  to  be  rewarded  in  a  loud 
voice.  General  Petain  advanced  briskly,  pinned 
on  the  medal  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  or  Croix  de 
Guerre,  touched  with  alternate  cheek  the  lips  of 
the  candidate,  receiving  two  hearty  kisses  audible 
fifty  feet  away. 

There  was  a  pretty  incident  in  the  general's  se- 
lection, in  pursuance  of  a  right  accorded  him,  of 
one  of  the  candidates  for  the  Legion  of  Honor.  It 
was  an  extemporaneous  judgment  based  on  the 
record  read  aloud  in  detail.  The  recipient  was  a 
wiry,  handsome  young  sergeant,  and  the  incident 


92   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

spread  a  wave  of  pleasure  over  the  whole  division. 

My  first  impression  of  General  Petain  was  tinged 
with  a  little  shade  of  disappointment.  Men,  how- 
ever great,  are  not  gods,  once  you  scrutinize  them 
narrowly.  Petain  might  be  a  business  man,  a  law- 
yer, or  a  village  doctor.  I  remember  having  had 
much  the  same  impression  of  the  late  E.  H.  Har- 
riman.  I  could  name  half  a  dozen  men  who  would 
make  up  acceptably  for  the  part  of  General  Petain, 
and  have  points  of  resemblance  with  him — Frank 
P.  Glass,  for  example,  if  he  were  a  few  inches  taller, 
or  Frank  A.  Munsey  if  he  were  forty  pounds 
heavier. 

General  Petain  in  some  ways  suggests  General 
Leonard  Wood.  He  has  ceaseless  energy,  but  is 
neither  hurried  nor  strenuous.  He  has  n't  a  par- 
ticle of  military  consciousness.  He  is  one  size 
smaller  than  General  Pershing,  a  shade  less  erect, 
and  immensely  less  suggestive  of  military  starch. 
Pershing  stands  like  a  statue,  but  Petain  is  just  an 
ordinary,  erect,  middle-aged  man.  He  has  no 
studied  or  fixed  pose,  but  he  is  a  soldier  from  the 
ground  up. 

He  wore  the  plainest  kind  of  gray  uniform, 
riding-breeches,  and  tan  puttees,  with  three  tiny 
stars  on  each  sleeve  near  the  wristband,  and  a  large 
silver  medal  pinned  on  his  tunic  below  the  left 
handkerchief  pocket. 

He  has  a  good,  wholesome  face.     Yet  I  think 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR       93 

it  must  have  been  there  that  I  met  with  the  dis- 
appointment referred  to.  I  had  pictured  him  as 
thin-visaged  and  frowning,  with  a  downward  look. 
His  face  is  much  plumper  than  his  pictures  indicate. 
The  prominent  nose  seems  not  unlike  General 
Pershing's,  though  there  the  facial  resemblance 
stops.  General  Petain's  chin  gives  no  line  to  his 
character,  as  chins  are  often  supposed  to  do,  and  his 
head  is  of  average  size  and  shape.  His  cheeks  have 
color,  and  his  brownish  eyes  are  kindly.  He  means 
well  to  you,  but  you  must  take  no  liberties.  You 
tell  that  at  a  glance.  He  wore  brown  chamois 
gloves.  His  hands  were  frequently  in  action,  but 
there  is  no  extravagance  or  affectation  of  gesture. 

I  speculated  that  here  was  a  man  that  had  reached 
middle  life  without  disclosing  any  kind  of  greatness. 
He  was  a  colonel,  and  a  lecturer  at  the  war  college, 
a  good  one,  no  more.  The  war  came  and  smote 
deep  into  his  nature.  It  started  the  springs  of 
greatness,  which  flowed  outward  in  the  channels 
that  opportunity  opened.  But  all  his  habits  had 
been  formed  by  patterns  of  mediocrity.  There 
were  no  characteristics  struck  out  by  that  indul- 
gence of  the  ego,  that  self-development  which 
genius  is  privileged  to  practise  from  boyhood. 

It  therefore  happens  that  Petain  is  actually  as 
plain  as  an  old  shoe.  He  does  n't  play  to  the  gal- 
leries. You  are  sure  that  he  is  not  thinking  of  him- 
self, not  even  glimmeringly.     His  mind  is  on  his 


94   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

number,  and  it  is  n't  number  one.  In  fact,  the  im- 
pression he  gives  is  always  that  of  sincerity  in  what 
he  is  doing.  He  does  n't  do  one  thing  and  think  of 
another.  He  is  on  the  job,  so  to  say,  every  minute. 
If  he  is  pinning  on  a  medal,  he  is  looking  at  it  and 
thinking  about  that  particular  medal ;  and  so  when 
he  is  kissing.  I  observed  that  he  was  careful  to 
take  the  kiss  on  the  cheek.  Remember,  by  the  way, 
that  this  is  a  French  ceremonial  kiss  and  does  n't 
mean  the  same  as  a  kiss  does  with  us. 

Now  the  military  business  is  over,  or  at  least 
there  is  an  interval  between  the  first  and  second 
parts,  the  latter  the  review  proper.  What  does  the 
general  do?  Go  off  and  take  a  rest  or  talk  to  the 
American  generals?  Not  at  all.  There  are  a  lot 
of  French  spectators,  some  who  have  suffered  re- 
cent losses,  and  others  just  villagers,  or  farmers, 
and  their  families  from  the  country-side.  General 
Petain  makes  the  round  of  them.  And  let  me  say 
right  here  that  I  never  saw  anybody  meet  people 
better,  not  even  the  late  President  JMcKinley, 
whose  genuine  love  for  his  fellow-man  made  him 
sincere  in  his  human  contact  and  therefore  a  good 
*'mixer."  General  Petain  must  like  it  or  he 
couldn't  do  it  so  well  as  he  does.  You  must 
always,  here  in  France,  remember  that  there  is  more 
of  a  certain  kind  of  democratic  feeling  than  with 
us.  There  was  no  sense  in  this  crowd  that  they 
were  enjoying  condescension  from  a  great  military 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR       95 

grandee,  as  equally,  of  course,  there  was  not  a 
shadow  of  thought  of  its  bestowal.  Petain  kissed 
the  babies  and  shook  hands  with  the  gTown-ups  as 
if  he  had  been  brought  up  to  this  business  instead 
of  to  soldiering. 

I  happened  to  be  among  the  crowd  as  the  general 
came  along.  He  stopped,  shook  hands  with  me, 
and  passed  the  time  of  day,  displaying  a  lively  in- 
terest when  I  mentioned  the  name  of  my  paper. 
And  I  may  tell  you  that  he  securely  fixed  my  vote 
for  any  office  for  which  he  ever  stands  when,  hours 
later  at  another  place,  he  remembered  me,  stepped 
out  of  the  military  circle,  gave  me  a  real  handshake, 
and  an  "Au  revoir." 

General  Petain  is  without  a  certain  mystery  and 
magnetism  that  characterize  Joffre;  nor  has  he  the 
avoirdupois.  No  one  else  can  speak  in  that  soft 
monotone  of  Joffre's,  a  tone  in  which  one  might 
read  a  psalm.  Petain  has  fixed  his  place  as  a 
soldier.  He  took  over  the  command  in  most  ex- 
traordinary circumstances  of  difficulty  and  splen- 
didly has  he  made  good. 

Such  was  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  French 
as  he  went  about  his  appointed  tasks  on  the  day 
before  the  latest  Verdun  attack.  Perhaps  his  re- 
view was  in  connection  with  that  big  offensive.  If 
it  was,  General  Petain  had  gone  through  all  the 
great  planning  without  the  effort's  having  left  any 
mark  of  strain.     There  was  no  sign  of  excitement. 


96   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

Here  is  a  man  who  will  attend  to  all  that  has 
got  to  be  done,  big  and  little,  and  then  have  time 
and  energy  left  over  for  the  miexpected.  My  guess 
would  be  that  his  work  is  never  in  arrears.  There 
is  no  feverish  haste  and,  therefore,  no  lost  motion, 
but  he  is  hard  at  it  all  the  time.  At  the  need  of 
France  came  Joffre,  and  then  Petain. 

PAINLEVE 

June,  1917.  Before  going  to  see  the  minister  of 
war  I  had  formed  the  impression  that  M.  Painleve 
was  that  rarity  in  the  ranks  of  science,  a  great 
mathematician  whose  genius  was  not  an  excres- 
cence, but  an  integral  part,  of  an  all-round,  great 
man.  When  I  met  him  in  his  office  I  found  him 
unexpectedly  young  not  only  in  appearance,  but 
also  in  his  un jaded  outlook  on  life  and  war.  One 
could  not  imagine  him  as  the  war  minister  mider 
Napoleon,  but  he  fits  into  the  picture  of  a  period 
that,  though  entirely  lacking  in  supermen,  can  lay 
claim  to  supermankind. 

In  the  anteroom  of  M.  Painleve,  the  minister  of 
war,  there  is  a  billiard-table  and  a  rack  of  cues.  I 
did  n't  learn  whether  M.  Painleve  is  himself  a 
player  or  whether  the  outfit  belonged  to  one  of  his 
predecessors.  To  see  the  billiard-table  all  ready 
for  play  in  that  anteroom  gave  a  human  touch  to 
the  picture.  But  I  could  n't  help  thinking  what 
would  happen  in  our  Puritanical  America  if  a 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR       97 

Secretary  Daniels  or  Secretary  Baker  should  instal 
cow-boy  pool  in  his  anteroom.  And  yet,  if  they 
took  the  time  for  a  little  "cow-boy  pool"  or  some 
other  game  every  day,  might  they  not  do  better 
work  on  their  big  problems? 

When  I  saw  ]M.  Painleve,  he  wore  a  black  cut- 
away coat,  a  gray  cravat  with  a  jeweled  pin,  gray- 
ish trousers  with  gray  gaiters  made  into  his  shoes, 
and  purple  socks.  An  impression  of  plain  utili- 
tarian tastes  was  conveyed  by  the  detachable  cuffs, 
which  suggested  to  me  that  when  at  work  in  the 
closet  of  science  he  removes  them  and  his  coat,  and 
hangs  them  on  a  convenient  peg. 

The  minister  is  delightfully  agreeable  and  frank. 
He  is  of  medium  size;  his  eyes  are  blue;  and  his 
hair  is  brown  without  suspicion  of  gray.  His  nose 
is  retrousse,  like  Yvette  Guilbert's,  and  his  com- 
plexion, fresh.  He  is  strikingly  boyish  for  a  man 
who  has  led  such  a  strenuous  life  in  two  depart- 
ments, politics  and  science. 

Painleve  is  himself  a  Socialist.  He  has  been  re- 
garded for  some  time  as  a  coming  man  in  French 
politics.  In  a  general  way  he  belongs  to  President 
Wilson's  school,  that  of  the  scholar  in  politics.  As 
is  well-known,  he  is  a  great  mathematician.  His 
scientific  point  of  view  gives  him  detachment,  for 
he  looks  at  the  world  in  a  state  of  war  with  the 
philosophic  calm  of  one  who  knows  that  this  planet 
is  almost  the  smallest  of  its  kind  in  one  of  the 


98   FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

hundreds  of  millions  of  solar  systems.  On  the 
other  side,  he  knows  that,  turning  from  the  tele- 
scope that  makes  these  bodies  visible  and  taking 
up  the  modern  microscope,  he  can  look  at  the 
smooth  surface  of  his  cuff  button  and  see  trees 
gi'owing  thereon,  yea,  even  worms  gnawing  at  the 
roots  of  those  trees.     So  why  get  excited? 

Painleve  runs  as  coolly  as  a  fine  high-speed 
engine.  He  accomplishes  much,  but  does  n't  seem 
in  a  hurry.  When  I  interviewed  him  there  was 
none  of  the  affectation  of  haste  with  which  an  of- 
ficial usually  attempts  to  overawe  the  representa- 
tive of  the  press.  "How  much  time  can  you  give 
me,  Mr.  Minister?"  I  inquired  at  the  outset.  "All 
that  you  want,"  was  the  amiable  reply.  His  is  a  de- 
lightful personality. 

While  waiting  for  M.  Painleve  to  return  from 
an  unexpected  conference,  I  had  had  a  chance  to 
look  about  under  the  guidance  of  Sub-Chief  Major 
Herscher,  and  to  learn  something  about  the  spirit 
and  methods  of  the  war  office.  Under  the  new  war 
administration,  as  reorganized  by  M.  Painleve  and 
M.  Ribot,  military  economics  and  financial  and 
political  powers  necessaiy  for  the  conduct  of  the 
war  are  reserved  to  the  Government  itself.  The 
powers  relating  exclusively  to  the  araiy  are  put  in 
the  form  of  military  orders  by  the  general  chief 
of  staff,  who  is  the  medium  of  communication  be- 
tween the  minister  of  war  and  the  commander-in- 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR       99 

chief  and  the  minister's  coadjutor  in  the  execution 
of  mihtary  matters.  Thus  mihtarized,  they  pass 
into  two  separate  channels,  one  to  General  Petain 
for  the  western  front,  and  the  other  to  General 
Sarrail  for  the  eastern  front,  these  two  being  en- 
tirely separate. 

M.  Painleve,  who  has  already  made  a  deep  im- 
pression in  America  as  he  has  throughout  Europe, 
is  a  Socialist  Republican.  He  is  not,  and  never 
has  been,  an  International,  that  is  a  socialist  who 
puts  socialism  above  his  country.  He  had  always 
foreseen  a  long  war  and  has  been  a  convinced 
jusqu  d-hout-ist.  He  is  an  idealist  who  realizes 
his  ideals.  This  has  been  shown  by  his  quick  ac- 
tion in  Greece, — and  notably,  later,  in  his  action  in 
sending  French  troops  to  Italy — ^where  with  Ribot 
and  Lloyd  George  he  grasped  the  nettle  of  intrigue 
and  treachery. 

The  first  word  the  war  minister  spoke  to  me  was 
of  President  Wilson.  He  said  that  the  head  of 
the  American  Republic  had  the  enduring  esteem, 
affection,  and  confidence  of  the  French  people. 
No  one  else  had  put  the  case  for  humanity  so 
strongly,  and  action  had  followed  words,  though 
there  had  been  a  patience  and  restraint  that  in 
retrospect  of  what  had  passed  emphasized  Wilson's 
sincerity. 

"Out  of  all  this  terrible  slaughter  there  may 
come  at  least  a  pacified  humanity  sated  with  the 


100  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

war  spirit,"  said  M.  Painleve,  dwelling  on  the  note 
so  often  struck  in  the  President's  messages. 

"One  of  the  most  popular  questions  in  France," 
he  continued,  "is  the  restitution  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine.  They  had  always  been  properly  French 
territory,  an  integral  part  of  France,  one  with  us 
geographically  and  in  feeling,  but  one  hundred  and 
thirty  years  ago  these  provinces  gave  themselves 
formally  and  irrevocably  to  France.  They  are 
ours,  and  they  must  come  back  to  us.  These 
provinces  stand  morally  on  a  level  with  northern 
France  and  Belgium,  where  Germany's  acts  were 
not  those  of  war.  Germany  stole  from  factories 
property  that  belonged  to  private  citizens.  Such 
theft  does  not  come  in  the  categories  of  things  for 
which  one  asks  indemnity.  It  is  a  matter  of  re- 
storing stolen  property,  and  on  that  we  shall  insist. 

"There  can  be  no  compromise  on  the  outrages 
committed  at  Lille,  Roubaix,  and  Tourcoing. 
And  the  deportations  are  crimes  that  can  never  be 
expiated." 

Then  we  took  up  the  subject  that  lies  at  the 
bottom  of  every  discussion  of  American  coopera- 
tion, the  manufacture  of  air-planes  and  the  fm*nish- 
ing  of  aviators.  M.  Painleve  thought  this  subject 
one  of  overshadowing  importance,  although  he,  in 
common  with  every  one  else,  shows  the  liveliest 
enthusiasm  when  the  talk  is  of  American  soldiers 
for  the  French  trenches. 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR    101 

Two  phases  upon  which  we  dwelt  were  standard- 
isation and  the  coordination  of  American  with 
French  activities.  Parts  of  air-planes,  he  said, 
should  be  manufactured  and  shipped  to  central 
plants  in  France  just  as  Ford  makes  parts  in 
Detroit  and  ships  them  to  Long  Island  City  and 
Boston  to  be  erected  into  cars.  In  addition,  he 
thought  there  should  be  factories  for  making  parts 
in  France.  The  minister  believed  that  the  prac- 
tical men  associated  with  the  government  commis- 
sions in  Washington  would  see  right  through  this 
enormous  problem  and  bring  it  to  a  prompt  solu- 
tion. His  interest  in  the  matter  is  intense,  but  it 
is  on  the  battle  front  rather  than  in  coping  with 
submarines  that  M.  Painleve  sees  the  surest  utility 
for  aviation. 

"It  enables  you,"  he  said  epigrammatically,  "to 
have  eyes  yourself,  to  put  out  your  enemy's  eyes, 
and  to  deal  destruction  at  points  not  otherwise 
reachable.  Time  is  the  essence  of  this  matter. 
England,  America,  and  France  must  work  together 
here  and  not  lose  a  moment." 

^I.  Painleve  is  a  pioneer  in  the  field  of  aviation, 
and  he  looks  forward  after  the  war  to  an  enormous 
development  of  air  transport  that  will  include 
passenger  traffic  and  light  freight,  such  as  mail, 
which  he  expects  to  be  air-borne  from  Europe  to 
America,  and  from  France  to  all  her  colonies. 

He  was  one  of  the  fu'st  passengers  in  an  air- 


102  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

plane,  having  gone  up  with  Wilbur  Wright  at 
Auxerre  in  1908,  and  momentarily  held  both  time 
and  distance  records.  He  lectured  at  Commander 
Roch's  school  on  the  mechanics  of  aviation,  and  in 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  obtained  the  first  credit 
for  that  service.  In  1910  he  recommended  to  the 
minister  of  war  the  creation  of  a  flotilla  of  a 
thousand  air-planes  in  five  years,  which  was  thought 
then  to  be  chimerical.  He  is  convinced  that 
America  can  accomplish  wonders  in  this  field,  but 
deprecates  figm'es  that  could  only  be  made  good 
by  a  miracle. 

"We  do  not  expect  impossibilities  even  from 
America,"  said  the  minister. 

When  asked  why  Paris  enjoyed  immunity  from 
air  raids,  a  question  asked  frequently  in  America, 
M.  Painleve  suggested  the  obvious  fact  that  over 
the  battle  lines  the  French  and  English  air-craft 
form  an  almost  impassable  barrier.  German 
cities,  for  the  most  part,  were  similarly  protected, 
and  reprisal  on  Germany  for  raiding  England  was 
thereby  rendered  very  difficult.  I  was  reminded 
of  what  M.  Reinbach  told  me,  that  England's  re- 
prisals were  "bosh  in  two  senses." 

When  I  asked  for  a  pronouncement  on  the  Rus- 
sian situation,  M.  Painleve  said: 

"The  news  now  coming  from  Russia  through  M. 
Albert  Thomas  and  Mr.  Root  may  be  regarded 


FRENCH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     103 

as  favorable,  and  encourages  the  optimism  I  have 
felt  on  the  subject." 

M.  Painleve  having  answered  all  my  questions, 
I  asked  if  there  was  not  some  message  peculiarly 
his  own  that  he  could  give  me  for  America. 

"Yes,"  he  promptly  replied.  "At  the  beginning 
something  was  said  here  that  touches  the  sensitive- 
ness of  Americans.  The  remark  was  that  when 
you  came  in  we  could  send  back  the  old  classes 
from  the  trenches.  It  touched  the  American  spirit, 
and  from  some  quarters  there  was  a  response, 
'What!  are  we  just  to  fill  up  the  gap  made  by  the 
withdrawal  of  old  men?' 

"Let  me  say  that  if  in  the  course  of  five  or  six 
months  you  gave  us  one  hundi'ed  thousand,  two 
hundred  thousand,  what  number  you  will,  of 
splendid  American  soldiers,  we  would  withdraw 
from  military  service  such  men  as  could  be  spared 
and  would  cost  us  the  least  sacrifice  of  strength 
there,  and  restore  them  to  the  economic  life  of 
France  wherein  age  does  not  carry  with  it  a  cor- 
responding degree  of  deterioration.  We  should 
thus  derive  the  greatest  possible  net  gain  from  the 
generous  aid  of  our  American  ally:  and  a  gain  for 
one  is  a  gain  for  all. 

"Another  matter  I  will  touch  on  is  the  value  of 
your  aid  in  reconstructing  our  railroads.  This  help 
is  in  no  sense  less  valuable  than  that  in  the  trenches. 


104  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

and  those  who  work  on  our  transportation  lines 
serve  France  and  the  Allied  cause.  We  hope  for 
American  s^^eed  and  efficiency  in  this  reconstruc- 
tion, and  if  it  would  appeal  to  your  pride  of 
superiority  in  railroad  building,  we  would  be  glad 
to  set  aside  a  particular  railroad  for  American 
engineers  and  workers. 

*'One  word  more,"  said  M.  Painleve,  his  face 
growing  grave.  "In  the  name  of  France  I  want 
to  thank  the  Am.erican  nation  for  those  who  came 
to  us  in  advance  of  any  declaration — doctors, 
nurses,  aviators,  soldiers,  and  ambulance  men,  many 
of  whom  have  given  their  lives." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

BRITISH    MEN   OF   THE   WAR 
THE   RT.    HON.   DAVID   LLOYD   GEORGE 

January,  1917.  I  say  at  the  start  that  this  is 
neither  a  character  sketch  of  the  prime  minister 
nor  a  report  of  the  big  meeting  held  at  the  beautiful 
and  historic  Guildhall. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  took  his  welcome  very  quietly, 
showing  but  a  trace  of  response  as  he  stood  at  the 
rail  of  the  platform.  The  crowd  sang  "For  he  's 
a  jolly  good  fellow,"  but  the  song  limped,  and  the 
performance  was  more  spiritless  than  the  same 
thing  would  have  been  in  New  York.  Then  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  sat  down  next  to  his  little  daughter, 
a  pink-cheeked  girl,  who  had  come  with  Mrs.  liloyd 
George  a  few  minutes  before.  The  wife  of  the 
prime  minister  wore  a  black  hat,  with  a  plume  and 
a  gold  buckle,  and  a  velvet  wrap  trimmed  with  fur, 
and  a  collar  of  muskrat.  She  had  on  a  dark  silk 
frock  and  white  gloves  with  black  stripes.  She  is 
a  large,  wholesome-looking  motherly  woman. 

Wlien  the  prime  minister  took  his  seat  he  sur- 
veyed the  crowd  and  twirled  his  watch-chain,  after 
first  putting  his  right  ankle  on  his  left  knee,  where 
it   stayed   during  about  twenty  minutes  of  Mr. 

105 


106  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

Bonar  Law's  speech.  From  time  to  time  he  took 
his  gold  pince-nez  into  the  hand  that  was  not  busy 
with  his  watch-chain.  After  looking  straight  out 
into  his  audience  for  a  while,  his  eyes  sought  the 
vaulted  ceiling  of  the  Guildhall.  I  could  observe 
that  he  was  not  studying  Gothic  architecture,  but 
was  further  preparing  himself  for  the  speech  he  was 
to  make  later. 

Some  men  have  hands  larger  than  their  feet,  and 
some  have  it  the  other  way  round.  Mr.  Lloyd 
George's  feet  are  small,  and  he  seemed  to  have  taken 
considerable  pains  over  his  boots.  His  hands  are 
large  and  strong.  He  wore  a  standing  collar  with 
wings  upon  which  his  double  chin  rested  comfort- 
ably. He  is  much  cleaner-cut  than  his  pictures 
represent  him.  He  would  seem  to  have  a  greater 
degree  of  health  and  less  spiritual  quality  than  I 
had  supposed. 

His  eyes  looked  brown  or  black,  but  the  man 
next  to  me  said  that  they  were  in  fact  dark  blue. 
One  expects  large  eyes  in  such  a  man,  but  the  prime 
minister's  seemed  smallish.  He  has  a  very  merry 
twinkle  in  them,  and  that  is  one  of  his  most  marked 
characteristics.  You  feel  that  here  is  a  reformer, 
but  one  who  does  not  take  himself  too  seriously. 
He  is  not  so  terribly  in  earnest  as  to  fall  over  his 
own  feet.  I  should  say  that  he  had  taken  to  him- 
self the  wisdom  of  Plato's  counsel:  *'The  best  is 
frequently  the  enemy  of  the  good." 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     107 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  whispered  something  to  his 
daughter  and  smiled,  and  it  gave  me  a  chance  to 
note  that  his  face  is  built  along  curved  lines.  If 
I  may  speak  so  of  so  great  a  statesman,  his  mouth 
has  a  cupid  bow  effect.  He  has  a  small  nose  and 
delicate  nostrils.  While  his  color  only  comes  when 
he  exerts  himself  in  speaking,  he  is  not  pallid,  and 
there  is  not  the  slightest  suspicion  of  weariness 
about  him. 

The  lord  mayor  introduced  the  prime  minister, 
and  I  noticed  with  interest  that  he  dropped  the 
"g"  as  in  reading,  which  made  me  feel  quite  at 
home.  When  Lloyd  George  arose  I  got  a  new  im- 
pression of  him.  He  was  quite  free  from  self- 
consciousness  when  the  great  audience  gave  him  its 
ovation.  As  he  stood  up  with  his  hands  on  the  rail, 
I  noticed  the  depth  of  his  chest,  and  how  flat  and 
straight  his  back  was.  He  was  dressed  in  a  cut- 
away coat,  quite  in  the  prevailing  style  of  exag- 
gerated tail.  He  wore  a  black  four-in-hand,  with 
a  very  small  diamond  pin  in  it.  But  for  his  hair 
of  black  and  white  in  the  proportion  of  fifty-five, 
and  worn  long  and  brushed  back,  Lloyd  George 
would  be  quite  the  conventional  type  of  profes- 
sional man. 

There  is  just  a  suggestion  of  Bob  Ingersoll  and 
W.  J.  Bryan  in  his  appearance.  In  a  general  way 
he  belongs  to  the  breed  of  statesmen  who  react 
sensitively  to  the  aspirations,  needs,  and  wrongs  of 


108    FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

the  masses:  but  he  is  a  very  high  type,  and  what- 
ever visionary  quahties  he  may  have  started  with 
have  been  pretty  well  knocked  out  of  him  by  his 
experience  in  the  stand-up  and  knock-down  fight- 
ing of  parliamentary  government.  A  man  cannot 
get  very  gay  with  the  hard  facts  if  he  is  subject 
to  the  hazing  that  is  the  principal  sport  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  Lloyd  George  is  very  care- 
ful not  to  get  on  a  high  key,  but  he  possesses  a 
dramatic  quality  that  he  sometimes  calls  into  use. 

Except  at  these  rare  moments  the  coming  and 
going  of  reporters  and  stenographers,  who  made  a 
confusion  between  the  speaker  and  his  audience, 
had  no  psychological  effect  upon  the  impression  he 
was  producing.  He  was  not  seeking  for  rapt  at- 
tention. A  phrase  that  occurred  now  and  again 
throughout  his  remarks  was,  "You  may  depend 
upon  it,"  If  he  had  it  in  mind  to  convey  a  strong 
impression  of  dependability  he  succeeded  admira- 
bly. 

When  cameras  were  fired  at  him  early  in  his 
speech  and  clouds  of  smoke  floated  over  him,  he 
was  not  in  the  least  disconcerted;  nor  did  it  spoil 
the  effect  of  his  opening.  When  he  touched  a  high 
point — for  example,  after  his  allusion  to  rebuilding 
on  the  rock  of  vindicated  justice — he  seemed  to 
make  a  point  of  putting  on  his  glasses  and  consult- 
ing his  notes,  as  if  to  keep  himself  from  any  flow 
of  eloquence.     He  got  home  splendidly  with  the 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     109 

impression  of  dependability  when  he  said  that  he 
had  just  returned  from  a  meeting  where  there  had 
been  no  delusion  about  the  magnitude  of  the  Allies' 
task  and  no  doubt  about  the  result,  that  they  had 
met  like  a  lot  of  business  men,  looked  facts  in  the 
face,  and  made  arrangements  to  deal  with  them. 

In  this  passage,  as  in  others,  there  was  no  flight 
of  oratory  to  fall  from,  and  only  enough  spmt  to 
prevent  any  impression  of  deadness.  Like  so  many 
English  speakers,  he  makes  you  feel  the  power  of 
his  reserve.  He  looks  very  strong  physically,  but 
he  has  n't  a  big  voice,  and  after  a  few  minutes  to- 
day it  broke  just  a  little  into  hoarseness. 

One  is  struck  with  a  sense  of  the  harmony  of  the 
whole  Lloyd  George,  head,  body,  and  intellectual 
personality.  There  is  n't  the  slightest  suspicion  of 
age  or  waning  powers.  He  is  evidently  a  careful 
liver  and  keeps  himself  well  in  hand. 

He  made  his  points  very  telling  with  what  we  in 
America  would  regard  as  a  minimum  of  effort. 
His  allusions  to  the  Russians  who  have  stood  with 
bared  breasts  against  the  Germans,  his  assurance 
that  no  matter  how  great  the  debt  the  added  wealth 
would  be  much  greater,  his  picture  of  England 
struggling  before  the  war  under  a  running  mort- 
gage of  menace  from  Germany,  and  his  statement 
that  the  nations  would  band  together  after  the  war 
to  punish  the  first  peace-breaker,  were  among  the 
high  points  touched  by  him,  with  his  feet  firmly 


110  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

on  the  ground.  While  he  used  accent  and  intona- 
tion much  more  freely  than  did  Bonar  Law,  he  had 
a  measured  manner  of  speech  that  was  the  opposite 
of  spellbinding. 

Only  at  the  very  end  did  he  put  dramatic  quality 
into  it.  He  threw  his  notes  down  on  the  table  with 
a  gesture  of  having  finished  that  chapter;  then  he 
put  his  hand  on  the  red,  cloth-covered  rail,  and 
spoke  his  last  four  or  five  sentences  as  Forbes- 
Robertson  might  have  done  with  an  appearance  of 
restrained  passion. 

After  the  voting  of  the  usual  resolution  those  on 
the  platform  and  in  the  audience  rose  and  sang 
"God  save  the  King."  Lloyd  George  stood  up 
very  straight,  and  sang  with  a  will.  The  crowd 
then  filed  out. 

I  fell  in  with  Lord  Claud  Hamilton,  and  we 
walked  over  the  wet  glistening  street  to  Cheap- 
side.  Lord  Claud  has  been  a  Conservative  member 
of  the  House  of  Commons  nearly  the  whole  time 
for  fifty-one  years.  He  and  his  family  and  his  class 
have  stood  for  different  things  than  those  repre- 
sented by  Lloyd  George.  I  was  very  much  in- 
terested in  what  Lord  Claud  thought  about  the 
meeting. 

"I  have  attended  a  great  many  meetings  in  the 
Guildhall,"  he  said,  "but  this  was  the  largest  I  have 
ever     seen.     Lloyd     George     and     Bonar     Law 


BPtlTISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     111 

presented  the  matter  most  forcibly,  and  the  loan 
will  be  a  success." 


September,  1917.  A  few  short  weeks  ago  many 
had  begun  to  wonder  if  the  prime  minister  of 
England  had  not  exhausted  his  inner  resources, 
and  his  enemies  were  somewhat  gleefully  re- 
examining old  leadership  material.  Meanwhile 
Mr.  Lloyd  George,  it  now  appears,  was  getting 
measured  for  a  new  suit  of  political  clothes  several 
sizes  larger.  They  have  been  finished;  he  has  dis- 
carded the  old  suit  and  put  on  the  new.  The  fit 
seems  to  be  an  excellent  one. 

The  men  who  grow  are  the  men  who  become 
great  in  public  life.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  may  be 
said  to  have  reached  the  pinnacle  of  his  power  and 
renown,  but  he  is  still  a  statesman  in  the  making. 
No  matter  how  big  he  may  have  been,  the  emer- 
gency is  bigger,  and  to  be  equal  to  it,  he  must  grow, 
grow,  grow.  His  growth  is  a  series  of  adventures. 
With  each  fresh  one  he  acquires  more  sureness; 
with  each  increase  in  sureness  he  goes  with  a 
steadier  step  to  a  new  success.  And  so  the 
metaphor-maker,  the  half-baked  thinker,  the  im- 
mature-minded visionary  of  a  decade  ago,  grasps 
with  an  ever-strengthening  hand  the  helm  of  world 
destiny. 

It  seems  only  yesterday,  as  I  look  back,  that  I 


112  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

saw  him  coming  and  going  at  the  golf-club,  and 
the  Conservative  breed  with  whom  I  foregathered 
over  the  whiskey  and  soda  on  the  veranda  scorned 
to  turn  a  head  toward  the  man  who  even  then  had 
put  an  impudent  spoon  into  the  parliamentary 
dish.  He  was  to  them  a  mountebank  and  a 
hypocrite.  I  recall  one  mighty  argument  that 
turned  on  the  sincerity  of  a  man  who,  while  wax- 
ing eloquent  on  the  grievances  and  sufferings  of  the 
poor,  was  willing  always  to  have  the  best  of  every- 
thing for  himself. 

Even  as  late  as  last  December,  when  he  became 
premier,  the  average  high-life  opinion  was  skeptical 
of  his  ability  to  carry  on.  He  was  able  to  form 
a  Government  through  the  unexpected  acceptance 
of  the  labor  party  of  the  promises  he  made  them. 
Their  exactions  were  great,  but  his  promises 
jumped  with  them.  He  never  was  modest  as  a 
promiser.  But,  as  in  other  things,  Lloyd  George 
had  prescience  as  to  what  labor  was  prepared  to 
do  to  help  on  the  war  and  the  new  concessions 
that  public  opinion  would  admit  in  return  there- 
for. His  premiership  had  the  distinct  weakness 
of  owing  its  existence  and  maintenance  to  an 
unsympathetic  and  unfriendly  element  in  the 
House  of  Commons. 

At  this  stage  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  progress 
from  demagogy  to  statesmanship,  thanks  partly  to 
his  shrewd  tact  and  partly  to  the  good  record  that 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     113 

he  had  made  in  war  conditions,  first,  as  chancellor 
of  the  exchequer  and,  second,  as  minister  of  muni- 
tions, there  rallied  to  his  support  a  majority  of  the 
Tory  party.  People  of  that  ilk  may  be  lacking  in 
imagination,  their  patriotism  may  be  tinctured  by 
self-interest  or  self-importance,  but  they  are  a  good 
crowd  to  have  behind  you.  Thej^  generate  a  com- 
fortable warmth ;  their  manners  are  good,  and  they 
stick.  Their  support  put  backbone  into  the  Lloyd 
George  movement.  For  his  Government  was  then 
hardly  to  be  regarded  as  a  consummation;  it  was 
rather  an  experiment. 

Lloyd  George  made  them  a  handsome  return  in 
kind  for  their  confidence.  Earl  Curzon,  leader  of 
the  Lords,  Bonar  Law,  leader  of  the  Commons, 
Mr.  Balfour,  Sir  Edward  Carson,  and  Lord 
Derby  are  five  of  the  more  prominent  Conservatives 
who  share  the  responsibilities  of  the  Government. 
Thus  it  was  that  the  Tories  on  one  side  and  labor 
on  the  other  joined  hands  and  made  a  saddle  upon 
which  Lloyd  George  was  carried  to  the  heights  of 
secure  power. 

The  Liberals  were  always  looking  about,  but  the 
more  they  looked  the  less  they  saw.  There  was  no 
place  for  them  to  go.  When  Asquith  fell,  they 
were  sure  that  the  country  was  lost  unless  he  came 
back  soon  to  power.  Out  of  power  and  not  charged 
with  the  responsibility  for  action  and  results,  he 
was  a  tremendous  asset  to  the  Liberal  party.     He 


114  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

has  the  gifts,  without  the  defects,  of  pointed  and 
eloquent  speech.  No  man,  not  even  the  premier, 
can  present  the  heart  of  the  matter  with  greater 
clarity  or  happiness.  But  he  was  out,  while  his 
rival  was  in.  And  the  premier  was  making  hay- 
while  the  sun  shone.  Every  day,  eveiy  hour,  he 
was  going  over  the  heads  of  parties  and  their  leaders 
to  the  sovereign  people  of  Britain.  Little  by  little 
he  established  the  direct  relation  firmly,  until  at 
last  his  unfailing  sense  of  public  thought  and  feel- 
ing told  him  that  when  the  proper  moment  came 
he  could  strike  from  his  hands  the  shackles  of  party 
control  and  make  them  his  slaves  who  had  been  his 
masters,  the  leaders  of  the  several  parties  in  Parlia- 
ment. 

I  hazard  the  guess,  and  not  without  some  little 
foundation  for  it,  that  during  this  formatory  period 
Mr.  George  has  taken  Abraham  Lincoln  as  his 
model.  There  is  a  parallel  in  a  large  way  between 
the  two  experiences  and  the  two  wars.  I  know 
that  Mr.  George  has  always  ranked  Lincoln  almost 
first  among  English-speaking  statesmen  of  all 
time.  And  I  know  that  the  life-long  reading  and 
study  of  Lincoln  by  the  premier  have  within  a  few 
months  been  resumed  with  fresh  assiduity.  In  the 
course  of  his  eight -months'  administration  there  has 
cropped  out  a  constant  analogy  of  policy.  For 
example,  Mr.  George's  ignoring  of  previous  per- 
sonal associations,  his  obliteration  of  every  line  of 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     115 

social  caste  and  political  party,  and  his  insistent 
search  eveiywhere  for  ability  and  fitness  recall  the 
noble  sacrifices  of  self  made  by  the  martyred 
President  in  his  yearning  to  gain  the  best  service 
for  his  imperiled  country. 

The  English  premier  has  not  been  called  upon 
to  endure  alone  and  in  silence  the  misunderstand- 
ings that  were  Lincoln's  reward  for  his  self-sacri- 
fice, but  he  has  had  a  terrible  load  to  carry,  and  he 
has  carried  it  cheerfully  and  bravely.  There  has 
never  been  a  trace  of  melancholy  in  the  prime 
minister's  life.  He  is  not  sensitive.  He  has  had 
more  of  the  rough  and  tumble  of  politics  than  Mr. 
Lincoln.  He  has  less  of  the  meditative  side.  He 
is  a  "scrapper"  and  a  practical  politician.  He  used 
to  fight  for  everything  he  got.  In  the  last  year 
or  two  he  has  been  learning  to  rely  more  for  his 
results  on  the  play  of  great  forces.  But  it  was 
good  for  him  that  he  got  his  training  by  lifting 
dead  weights.  His  early  experiences  and  hard 
knocks  gave  him  toughness  and  made  him  danger- 
ous in  scrimmage,  but  they  also  prevented  his  ac- 
quiring for  his  armory  that  serene  confidence  with- 
out which  absolute  mastery  in  action  can  be  only  in 
the  nature  of  a  fluke. 

And  that  is  the  premier's  new  weapon.  He  has 
won  confidence  in  himself  in  full  measure  and  has 
been  using  it  like  a  master  these  last  few  weeks. 
At  first  his  every  act  was  introduced  by  a  gesture 


116  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

of  deference  in  this  or  that  direction.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  I  could  point  to  tlie  precise  week-end 
when  fear  ceased  to  exist  as  an  element  in  the 
premier's  policy. 

It  was  on  the  occasion  a  few  weeks  ago  of  the 
marshaling  of  all  the  hostile  forces  of  the  press  and 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  a  formidable  array  it 
was.  The  premier  must  have  had  private  intima- 
tion in  advance  of  others  that  he  had  the  enemy 
beaten.  He  made  a  speech  at  Queen's  Hall  on  a 
Saturday,  and  went  off  to  Paris  on  a  Sunday,  leav- 
ing many  of  his  friends  dubious  about  the  result 
of  a  vote  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  Mon- 
day, which,  if  adverse,  would  have  sent  the  Govern- 
ment to  the  country  in  a  general  election.  It  was 
an  opportunity  for  all  those  who  were  disaffected 
on  various  grounds,  such  as  Winston  Churchill's 
appointment,  the  Mesopotamia  exposure,  and  Lord 
Hardinge's  retention,  the  choice  of  Mr.  Montagu 
for  a  cabinet  position, — recalling  unpleasant  mat- 
ters of  the  past, — ^the  air  raids,  the  Irish  question, 
Lord  Northcliffe,  to  move  on  Lloyd  George  be- 
hind a  masked  battery.  This  latter  was  the  labor 
fight  to  increase  the  minimum  pay  for  laborers  in 
the  Agricultural  bill  from  twenty-five  to  thirty 
shillings  a  week. 

What  happened  is  history.  The  great  vote  of 
confidence  that  this  fight  resulted  in  undoubtedly 
emboldened  the   premier  to   strike   for  complete 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     117 

emancipation  from  labor  dictation  when  Mr. 
Henderson  made  the  opportunity  a  few  weeks  later. 
Mr.  George  showed  in  that  affair  the  quickness  of 
action  and  thorough  preparedness  that  go  with 
deliberate  planning.  He  won,  and  he  is  for  the 
moment  free.  He  is  in  the  saddle,  and  on  a  horse 
bridle-wise  to  him  and  not  tricky  to  secret  signs 
from  the  labor  hostler. 

The  premier  has  apparently  lost  little  in  the 
ranks  of  labor,  while  his  gain  by  his  audacity  had 
been  immense  in  other  directions.  Only  that  por- 
tion of  labor  capable  of  sacrificing  the  narrow 
interest  for  the  broader  one  of  country  has  been 
sincerely  friendly,  and  that  portion  he  still  holds. 
Almost  every  other  element,  except  the  spoils-hunt- 
ing among  the  Liberals,  is  marshaled  in  support  of 
tlie  Government.  England  to-day  shows  a  more 
solid  front  than  at  any  previous  time.  Lloyd 
George's  well  aimed  blows  have  backed  his  enemies 
off  the  boards,  and  those  who  are  against  him  now 
are  down-and-outers  and  tainted  with  treasonable 
pacifism. 

Yet  with  all  the  fine  developing  to  which  refer- 
ence has  been  made  there  is  still  a  certain  narrow- 
ness about  Lloyd  George.  In  a  limited  number 
of  things  he  thinks  in  terms  of  politics.  He  has 
defied  parliamentary  enemies,  outschemed  and  out- 
fought them.  But,  as  I  read  him,  he  is  still  an 
opportunist.     He  would  n't  go  against  the  popular 


118  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

mood,  however  uninformed  and  misled.  He  keeps 
his  ear  rather  close  to  the  ground. 

I  was  discussing  Mr.  George,  his  services  to 
his  country  and  humanity,  at  an  officers'  mess  at 
the  American  headquarters  recently.  The  talk 
was  in  regard  to  a  policy  of  ahsolute  and  puhlic 
frankness  ahout  sinkings  by  the  U-boat.  An  army 
doctor,  evidently  sharp  on  psychologj^  spoke  in 
effect  as  follows : 

"The  present  policy  of  soft-pedaling  on  sub- 
marine news  is  precisely  the  reverse  of  what  is  good 
for  us  and  bad  for  German}^  We  ought  to  put 
it  out  at  its  blackest.  Fill  Germany  full  of 
optimistic  'dope.'  Let  her  get  good  and  drunk  on 
it.  Then  will  come  the  inevitable  disappointment. 
After  that  there  will  be  a  recovery.  Give  the  same 
treatment  again.  Get  them  up  as  high  as  possible. 
Then  will  come  a  fall.  Keep  it  going  on  these 
lines,  and  Germany  will  crack.  There  is  no  forti- 
tude that  can  withstand  that  process.  On  the  other 
side,  looking  at  the  facts  squarely  will  give  us  an 
intelligent  and  reasoned  courage  and  stimulate  our 
effort.  Mark  my  words,  the  war  will  be  won  by 
those  with  strength  enough  to  face  the  truth  at 
every  stage  and  lost  by  those  who  bemuse  them- 
selves with  ill-timed  optimism." 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAK     119 

BALFOUR 

Every  one  said  that  after  the  reception  to  Joffre 
and  his  French  colleagues  there  would  be  an  anti- 
climax when  the  English  came.  It  was  certain  that 
there  could  be  no  higher  pitch  of  enthusiasm;  any 
change  must  be  downward.  Perhaps  Mr.  Balfour 
himself  expected  an  anticlimax.  Possibly  the 
greeting  that  New  York  gave  him  penetrated  his 
traditional  reserve ;  for  he  was  visibly  affected  when 
he  stood  before  the  audience  at  the  City  Hall  yes- 
terday afternoon. 

No  pubhc  man  in  England,  unless  it  be  IVIr. 
Bonar  Law,  is  more  coldly  self -restrained  than  Mr. 
Balfour,  but  those  who  were  there  yesterday  had 
the  rare  opportunity  of  seeing  an  Englishman,  per- 
haps the  greatest  and  certainly  the  most  typical  and 
representative  Englishman,  under  the  influence  of 
his  emotions. 

Mr.  Balfour  is  an  old  campaigner.  He  was  born 
in  1848  and  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons at  twenty-six.  At  thirty -one  he  wrote  a  book, 
"A  Defense  of  Philosophic  Doubt,"  and  from  that 
time  on  has  never  been  too  busy  in  practical  politics 
to  disport  himself  in  academic  backwaters.  He  was 
prime  minister  at  fifty-four,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  he  was  a  vibrating  hyphen  between  two  ele- 
ments in  his  own  party,  representing  the  extremes 
of  tariff  policy.     He  was  the  captain  of  the  St. 


120  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

Andrew's  Royal  and  Ancient  Golf  Club;  he  is  a 
cultivated  musician ;  in  his  seventh  decade  he  played 
in  doubles  of  the  open  tennis  tournament  with  the 
world's  champion,  Tony  Wilding,  since  killed  in 
action,  as  his  partner.  To  top  it  all.  Lord  North- 
cliffe  has  made  two  campaigns  against  him,  one 
when  he  was  at  the  admiralty,  and  the  other  since 
he  was  transferred  to  the  Foreign  Office. 

It  is  n't  on  record  that  Mr.  Balfour  ever  turned 
a  hair.  But  yesterday  in  the  City  Hall  he  was 
clearly  embarrassed,  and  in  a  way  that  went  to  the 
heart  of  his  auditors.  No  eloquence  could  have 
been  as  moving  as  the  slight  breakdown  in  self-con- 
trol of  this  great  kinsman  from  across  the  sea. 

When  Mr.  Balfour  came  in  with  the  mayor  and 
his  party  he  had  a  cordial  reception,  but  less  fervid 
and  tumultuous  than  that  accorded  Joffre  and 
Viviani.  As  he  mounted  the  rostrum  he  applied 
to  his  mouth  and  face  a  handkerchief  that  he  held 
in  his  right  hand.  He  smiled  pleasantly  and 
showed  a  set  of  even  white  teeth.  He  has  a  fine 
head,  fresh  pink  skin,  a  manly  handsomeness  of  fea- 
tures that  commands  instant  good-will  and  confi- 
dence. 

By  their  contrast  his  eyes  remind  me  of  General 
Joffre's.  His  had  mysteiy  in  them;  they  inspired 
me  with  awe ;  they  gave  him  a  soldier's  severe  mien. 
He  bent  their  glance  on  you  searchingly,  almost 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     121 

with  menace.  Mr.  Balfour's  eyes  are  blue  and 
frankly  amiable. 

As  a  fact,  many  people  have  tackled  Mr.  Balfour 
in  the  last  forty-five  years,  thinking,  because  of  his 
gentleness  of  nature  or  his  urbanity  of  manner,  that 
fighting  quality  was  lacking  in  him.  They  have 
"caught  a  Tartar."  This  impression  of  harmless- 
ness  was  borne  out  in  his  early  years  by  frail  health 
and  a  certain  dilettantism.  But  when  Balfour  has 
been  stirred  up  he  has  always  surprised  his  enemies 
by  his  pugnacity  and  staying  power.  His  temper- 
ament is  not  unlike  President  Wilson's.  Both  are 
intellectuals,  and  Diderox's  paradox,  which  has  been 
applied  to  the  President,  fits  Mr.  Balfour.  In  some 
of  the  great  crises  in  which  he  has  figured  he  has 
been  "a  centre  of  human  agitation  in  which  he  him- 
self took  no  emotional  part,  though  he  was  its  intel- 
lectual prime  mover." 

When  the  question  of  a  new  Ambassador  to  the 
United  States  was  under  discussion  a  few  months 
ago,  I  heard  Mr.  Balfour's  name  mentioned  in  that 
connection  in  Downing  Street  circles,  and  the  intel- 
lectual congeniality  of  the  foreign  secretaiy  and  the 
President  was  remarked  by  men  who  knew  both  per- 
sonally. 

Wliile  Lieutenant-General  Bridges,  the  very  pic- 
ture of  a  soldier,  stood  motionless  on  the  left,  Mr. 
Balfour  showed  restlessness.     He  put  his  pince-nez 


122  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

glasses  on  and  then  took  them  off ;  he  folded  his  left 
arm  across  his  chest,  rested  his  right  elbow  on  it, 
and  put  his  chin  in  his  right  hand ;  he  felt  his  cravat, 
put  both  hands  behind  his  back,  then  again  clasped 
them.  This  went  on  all  through  the  preliminary 
speaking.  During  most  of  this  time  Mr.  Balfour's 
lips  were  parted  in  a  pleasant  smile,  for  the  mayor 
was  saying  mighty  nice  things  about  him. 

When  the  crowd  had  a  chance  to  revise  its  im- 
pression, it  noted  that  all  Englishmen  of  the  party 
were  very  hke  men  of  the  same  sort  in  this  coun- 
try, and  the  similarity  conveyed  vastly  more  sense 
of  compliment  than  it  would  have  done  a  few  short 
months  ago.  The  crowd  saw,  too,  with  a  certain 
pride  of  race,  that  the  foreign  secretary  was  the 
pattern  of  an  English  gentleman. 

He  is  six  feet  and  over,  with  a  fine,  well  set-up 
frame.  He  wore  a  Prince  Albert  coat  with  a  low 
turn-down  collar.  His  shoes  were  calfskin  and 
[British  in  a  certain  affectation  of  heaviness. 

I  could  n't  help  feeling  that  Mr.  Balfour  was  a 
good  deal  dressed  up.  I  have  often  seen  him  in 
the  dining-room  of  a  club  in  London  where  I  am 
in  the  habit  of  lunching  in  the  summer,  and  he 
would  wear  tweeds  and  rubber-soled  shoes.  He 
would  come  in  very  quietly,  usually  with  a  book  in 
his  hand,  and  nobody  would  notice  him  much,  for 
they  don't  lionize  their  lions  much  in  England — 
a  good  habit  we  ought  to  learn  from  our  cousins. 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     123 

now  that  we  are  brothers-in-arms.  I  had  the  im- 
pression from  seeing  Mr.  Balfour  thus  that  he  had 
a  contempt  for  dress.  But  of  course  convention- 
ahty  called  for  a  certain  costume  for  the  head  of 
the  commission;  Mr.  Balfour  wore  it,  and  it  was 
becoming  to  him. 

I  could  n't  repress  a  feeling  of  pride  in  this  great 
gentleman  as  he  stood  there,  and  I  believe  that 
the  same  feeling  was  general  in  the  audience.  The 
best  thing,  perhaps,  about  family  and  position  is 
that  it  confers  the  right  not  to  think  too  much  about 
it.  Mr.  Balfour  is  one  of  the  best-born  men  in 
England,  but  there  is  n't  a  trace  of  the  kind  of  con- 
sciousness that  sometimes  goes  with  position.  He 
has  had  in  his  hands  the  power  to  create  peers;  he 
could  himself  have  had  any  kind  of  peerage.  His 
transfer  to  the  House  of  Lords  would  have  con- 
ferred distinction  upon  that  body.  He  has  pre- 
ferred to  remain  Mr.  Balfour. 

His  mother  belonged  to  the  great  house  of  Cecil, 
and  the  representative  of  the  house  in  the  last  gen- 
eration, the  third  JMarquis  of  Salisbury,  gave  his 
nephew  his  schooling  in  politics.  While  the  Cecils 
are  aristocrats  of  aristocrats,  they  owe  their  en- 
nobling to  a  sturdy  and  strenuous  business  man 
who  a  few  centuries  ago  rendered  his  country  a 
signal  service  and  one  that  was,  in  a  way,  prophetic 
of  the  present  mighty  struggle.  The  original  Cecil, 
from  whom  the  race  may  well  get  its  moral  and 


124  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

intellectual  vigor,  was  a  certain  Burghley  who 
helped  to  organise  the  Merchant  Adventurers' 
Association  of  London.  Through  the  bold  work  of 
this  organization  London  and  England  threw  off 
the  commercial  slavery  of  the  Hanseatic  League, 
which  had  controlled  the  country  by  corrupting  the 
court. 

The  first  sound  from  Mr.  Balfour's  lips  was  when 
he  gave  the  British  "Hear,  hear"  to  express  his  ap- 
proval of  the  mayor's  allusion  to  the  common  cause 
of  England  and  America.  There  was  what  is  to 
us  a  new  and  very  pleasant  mannerism  in  his  turn- 
ing to  the  admiral  and  smiling  quite  frankly  at  the 
reference  to  the  service  rendered  by  the  British 
Navy.  An  American  would  have  indicated  his  no- 
tice and  approval  much  more  furtively.  When  the 
mayor  alluded  to  victory  in  the  trenches,  Mr.  Bal- 
four's hand  went  to  his  heart.  It  was  done  ab- 
sently, and  may  have  been  accidental. 

The  mayor's  introduction  of  Mr.  Choate  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  beautiful  incident.  Mr.  Choate  stood 
on  a  lower  level  about  fifteen  feet  away.  At  the 
mayor's  mention  of  "New  York's  foremost  citizen," 
Mr.  Balfour  turned  to  Mr.  Choate  with  an  affec- 
tionate and  smiling  regard.  He  hesitated,  took  a 
short  step  or  two,  and  then  went  forward  with  out- 
stretched hand  to  the  American  whom  he  had  known 
so  well  and  had  learned  to  respect  and  love  when  he 
was  Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  St.  James's.     The 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     125 

incident  was  free  from  the  least  tinge  of  the  theat- 
rical. It  was  characterized  by  such  sincerity  and 
good  taste  that  it  aroused  the  kind  of  feeling  that 
is  not  spent  by  making  a  show. 

Mr.  Choate's  allusion  to  Mr.  Balfour's  lifelong 
friendship  for  America  recalled  to  many  the 
Venezuelan  trouble,  which  once  brought  America 
and  England  apparently  so  near  war.  It  was 
during  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury's  premiership,  and 
it  was  Mr.  Balfour  who,  as  leader  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  announced  that  his  Government  would 
give  way  virtually  on  the  broad  ground  that  there 
must  never  be  a  war  between  the  two  branches  of 
the  English-speaking  race. 

The  English  are  very  sensitive  to  heat,  and  Lord 
Cunliffe  must  have  suffered  intensely  with  his  over- 
coat on.  General  Bridges  was  a  military  statue 
through  it  all,  but  the  foreign  secretary  was  per- 
spiring freely.  The  room  was  stifling  by  the  time 
Mr.  Balfour's  turn  came.  The  introduction  was 
the  signal  for  a  silk-hat  salute  and  a  general  out- 
burst that  made  me  doubt  whether  even  the  hero  of 
the  Marne  had  called  forth  greater  enthusiasm. 

It  was  wonderful  to  see  an  American  audience 
with  a  considerable  portion  of  Irish  and  German 
Americans  giving  such  a  royal  welcome  to  an 
Englishman.  A  neighbor  at  my  elbow  recalled 
with  appropriate  paraphrase  Tennyson's  lines  on 
the  welcome  to  Queen  Alexandria, 


126  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

"Saxon  and  Norman  and  Dane  are  we. 
But  all  of  us  Danes  in  our  welcome  to  thee." 

Mr.  Balfour  took  the  welcome  with  that  charm 
of  simplicity  and  naturalness  that  is  characteristic, 
but  it  could  be  seen  that  he  was  touched  to  his  very 
center.  There  was  not  the  customary  sparing  of 
gesture.  On  the  contrary,  the  hands  were  in  con- 
stant action,  and  his  words  did  n't  flow.  But  it 
was  exactly  the  speech  to  sink  deepest.  He 
could  n't  have  produced  a  better  or  deeper  im- 
pression by  delivering  an  eloquent  oration.  As 
he  proceeded,  the  applause  increased,  and  there  was 
a  big  outburst  when  he  spoke  of  America's  coming 
to  England's  assistance  and  "sharing  our  tri- 
umphs." He  spoke  with  scarcely  a  trace  of  what 
we  are  pleased  to  call  the  English  accent. 

When  he  described  the  reception  at  the  landing 
and  in  the  street  he  was  so  affected  that  he  had 
to  pause  for  the  simplest  words.  In  telling  of  the 
shouts  of  welcome  he  said  that  they  came  "from 
every — every — every  window,  every  house — "  and 
later  he  began  a  new  passage  with  "Ladies — " 

Those  of  us  who  went  out  together  were  agreed 
in  the  view,  that  the  occasion  could  hardly  have 
been  more  successful  in  its  creation  of  genuine  good- 
will, and  that  Mr.  Balfour  had  produced  by  his  sim- 
plicity and  even  by  his  halting  and  embarrassment, 
if  such  it  was,  an  effect  of  sincerity  that  no  rhetorical 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     127 

art  could  have  given.  I  think  we  were  agreed  in 
allotting  Arthur  James  Balfour  first  place  in  Eng- 
lish public  life,  though  we  all  admitted  Lloyd 
George's  superior  fitness  for  war  leadership.  Cer- 
tainly in  our  little  discussion  Mr.  Balfour  was  ac- 
corded first  rank  in  all  England  as  a  simple,  great- 
hearted gentleman. 

"For  he  has  worn  without  abuse 
The  grand  old  name  of  gentleman." 

LORD   NORTHCLIFFE 

December  11,  1917.  Lord  Northcliffe  has  been 
a  conspicuous  figure  at  the  Paris  conference.  He 
has  been  more  than  that,  for  next  to  the  premiers 
and  Colonel  House  he  has  been  the  most  active 
man. 

"We  could  not  have  accomplished  what  we  did 
without  him,"  the  colonel  remarked.  Northcliffe 
has  more  steam  than  any  other  man  in  England, 
and  I  cannot  recall  his  equal  in  that  respect  in 
America.  His  enemies  say  that  he  acts  first  and 
thinks  afterwards,  if  at  all.  The  truth  is  that 
Northcliffe  has  a  wonderfully  quick  mind  in  which 
he  maintains  a  most  precise  order.  lit  his  mental 
housekeeping  he  is  assisted  by  one  of  the  best  mem- 
ories I  have  ever  known.  He  does  n't  know  what 
fear  is;  his  enemies  call  this  lack  of  sensibility." 

A  surface  judgment  would  be  that  he  is  literally 
made  of  indiscretion,  but  those  who  watch  him 


128  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

closely  will  not  fail  to  notice  that  he  always  sets 
a  mark  for  himself  and  is  moving  toward  it  even 
when  he  appears  to  be  running  wild. 

He  unquestionably  has  more  to  do  with  directing 
British  opinion  than  any  other  man,  and  yet,  in  all 
except  his  bulldog  tenacity,  he  is  more  of  a  new- 
country  man  than  a  Britisher. 

The  love  of  form  and  established  habit  that  is 
characteristically  British  Lord  Northcliffe  has  no 
time  whatever.  Prudence  and  tact  are  also  left 
out  of  his  vocabulary. 

I  could  not  help  wondering  at  him  the  other  day 
when  he  dictated  for  publication  in  "The  New  York 
Times,"  the  statement  that,  of  the  British  cabinet, 
Lloyd  George,  JVIilner,  and  Smuts  were  capable, 
with  the  implication,  at  least,  that  the  rest  were 
"shirt-fronts"  and  "rubber-stamps."  Other  men 
may  achieve  greatness  by  the  toilsome  methods  of 
conciliation,  but  whatever  Northcliife  wins  will  be 
by  using  both  fists  and  a  pair  of  stout  English  boots. 

Wherever  Lord  Northcliffe  is,  it  pleases  him 
most  to  be  head  of  the  newspaper  tribe.  If  the 
nobility  are  on  one  side  of  the  road  and  the  journal- 
istic profession  on  the  other,  give  Lord  Northcliffe 
a  chance  to  choose  between  them  and  he  will  always 
herd  with  those  who  have  been  his  life-long  asso- 
ciates, with  whom  he  retains  sympathy  and  affinity, 
and  whose  ability  he  rates  higher  than  ability  in 
any  other  line  of  human  endeavor. 


THE    FO  C  SLE    OF    A    BRITISH    BATTLESHIP 


A  BRITISH    BATTLESHIP   TAKING  IN   OIL   FUEL  AT    SEA 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     129 

He  is  quick-tempered,  but  good-hearted  to  the 
core,  and  no  fellow-journaHst  ever  applies  to  him  in 
vain  for  legitimate  assistance  in  his  work.  He  is 
never  ashamed,  but  always  proud  of  his  profession 
and  willing  in  any  company  to  stand  up  and  be 
counted  a  reporter. 

On  the  morning  that  the  Supreme  War  Council 
was  to  meet  at  Versailles,  a  little  woman  reporter 
met  him  at  the  door  of  the  Hotel  de  Crillon.  She 
wanted  an  interview  with  Lloyd  George,  which  was 
ridiculously  impossible  at  such  a  time.  Northcliffe 
had  known  her  and  regarded  her  higlily,  and  he  was 
at  once  keen  to  help  her  get  what  she  wanted. 

The  prime  minister,  late  as  usual,  for  it  wanted 
but  a  few  minutes  of  the  hour  appointed  to  leave 
the  hotel,  was  holding  a  conference  with  Balfour, 
Milner,  and  Reading.  Lord  Northcliffe  went  in 
and  when  he  came  out  he  said,  "I  interrupted  them 
in  an  important  meeting,  but  I  apologised."  On 
the  way  from  the  room  to  the  carriage  the  woman 
reporter,  through  Northcliffe's  good  offices,  had  a 
chat  with  the  prime  minister  and  got  a  storj^  that 
went  all  over  the  world  from  the  "Petit  Parisien." 

Lord  Northcliff e  was  here,  there,  and  everywhere, 
for  and  with  the  American  Mission.  Since  its  de- 
parture I  happen  to  know  that  he  has  been  working 
day  and  night  "buttoning  up"  work  necessarily  left 
uncompleted  by  them. 

If  there  were  such  an  office  as  general  manager 


130  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

of  the  details  of  war,  it  would  be  difficult  at  this  time 
to  find  any  man  better  suited  for  that  job.  Another 
man  who  gives  the  same  impression  of  hustling  effi- 
ciency is  Sir  Eric  Geddes,  who,  it  seems  to  me, 
should  have  been  included  with  the  "capables"  in 
the  Lloyd  George  cabinet. 

London,  December  7,  1917.  I  have  had  an  in- 
terview at  "The  London  Times"  office,  in  Printing 
House  Square,  with  Lord  Northcliffe,  who  is  the 
storm  center  of  the  present  political  crisis.  The 
fall  of  the  Asquith  Government  follows  on  the  con- 
tinued hammering  of  the  Northcliffe  press,  and 
Lord  Northcliffe  is  blamed  or  praised  according  to 
the  point  of  view. 

"The  whole  countiy  has  risen  to  the  leadership  of 
Lloyd  George,"  said  Lord  Northcliffe.  "The 
English  spirit  responds  to  his  will  and  determina- 
tion. 

"He  has  summoned  to  his  council  the  best  bus- 
iness brains  of  the  country,  an  element  that  has  been 
entirely  neglected  by  the  politicians  of  the  late 
Government. 

"The  English  are  not  an  emotional  people,  but 
the  crowds,  which  gathered  in  such  numbers  and 
with  such  enthusiasm  at  the  war  office  to-day, 
showed  that  the  English  people  wanted  a  man  and 
they  have  got  a  man. 

"I  think  that  Americans  will  welcome  the  Lloyd 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     131 

George  ministry.  There  are  likely  to  be  two  men 
in  the  new  cabinet  peculiarly  acceptable  to  the 
United  States,  one  of  them  in  the  foreign  ofRce, 
which  has  to  deal  with  all  the  questions  arising  be- 
tween the  two  nations." 

Lord  Northcliffe  was  confident  of  the  present 
crisis  working  out  in  such  a  way  as  thoroughly  to 
energize  the  conduct  of  the  war.  Wlien  asked 
whether  he  would  enter  the  Government  or  take  any 
active  personal  part  in  poliitics,  Lord  Northcliffe 
said: 

**To  a  newspaper  like  *The  New  York  Times,' 
which  puts  into  practice  on  a  very  large  scale  and 
with  marked  success  the  doctrine  of  promoting  its 
own  welfare  by  working  along  thoroughly  imper- 
sonal and  independent  lines  for  the  welfare  of 
country  and  humanity,  the  course  of  the  newspapers 
under  my  management  needs  no  explanation. 
Throughout  all  these  critical  times  the  so  called 
Northcliffe  press  has  sought  nothing  for  its  con- 
trolling head,  and  for  a  reason  that  may  be  referred 
to  selfish  motives,  if  only  those  who  examine  the 
motives  do  so  with  an  informed  mind. 

"Newspapers  can  succeed  onh'  when  they  are 
newspapers  and  nothing  else,  that  is  to  say,  when 
they  print  the  news  fully  and  fairly  on  the  one  hand 
and  on  the  other  comment  on  it,  having  only  the 
public  interest  at  heart.  No  purse  would  be  equal 
to  the  strain  of  running  a  newspaper  as  a  personal 


132  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

or  political  organ  to  promote  the  fortunes  of  its 
owner.  Nor  could  such  a  paper  ever  appeal  to  a 
public  broad  enough  to  form  a  base  on  which  to 
build  a  real  newspaper  success. 

*Tor  proof  of  the  fatuity  of  journalistic  endeavor 
in  the  form  of  the  party  organ  a  glimpse  at  the 
London  field  is  quite  sufficient.  In  nearly  every 
case  the  abuse  of  the  Northcliffe  press  comes  from 
some  pitiful  failure  of  a  newspaper  that  is  a  per- 
sonal or  political  affair  and  extra- journalistic  in  its 
aims.  Such  journalism  is  a  fragile  mushroom  and 
is  bound  to  perish.  To  the  discriminatmg  eye  the 
criticism  indulged  in  by  such  newspapers  is  an  un- 
warranted tribute  to  power  that  does  not  exist  or 
at  least  not  in  the  form  that  they  apprehend.  The 
Northcliffe  press  gets  no  power  from  and  gives  none 
to  its  director  except  in  so  far  as  he  directs  it  for 
the  good  of  the  nation  and  in  accordance  with  the 
demands  of  public  opinion. 

"It  is  true  that  an  intelligently  conducted  news- 
paper can  inform  and  guide  public  opinion,  but  this 
is  done  more  through  publishing  the  news  than  by 
the  dictum  of  the  editorial.  'Ye  shall  know  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free'  must  be 
the  underlying  principles  of  journalism  in  a  democ- 
racy. 

"To  go  back  to  the  truth-telling  which  set  the 
face  of  England  toward  real  preparedness  in  this 
war :  We  were  up  against  the  condition  of  the  Ger- 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     133 

man  machine-guii  being  equal  in  fighting  power  to 
one  thousand  Enghsh  soldiers,  and  we  were  shoot- 
ing shrapnel  at  the  trenches  when  in  the  spring  of 
1915  the  'Times'  succeeded  in  penetrating  through 
the  censorship  with  a  statement  of  the  facts  as  they 
existed  in  France.  Coincidentally  with  the  pub- 
lication of  the  news  'The  Daily  Mail'  brought  home 
the  responsibihty  to  the  war  office  in  a  series  of 
editorials  that  may  be  described  as  brutally  frank. 

"Now  nine  out  of  ten  of  the  unthinking  blamed 
the  director  of  the  Northchffe  press  at  that  time. 
A  wave  of  indignation  swept  over  the  country. 
Charges  were  sprung  by  the  privately  owned  and 
politically  controlled  organs.  It  was  charged,  per- 
haps with  a  color  of  truth,  that  the  Northcliffe  press 
had  been  largely  responsible  for  the  appointment 
of  Lord  Kitchener  originally.  It  never  occurred 
to  these  un journalistic  minds  that  the  responsibility 
imposed  continuing  responsibility  or  the  proper  con- 
duct of  the  war  office. 

"The  advocacy  of  Lord  Kitchener's  appointment 
had  been  for  pubhc,  not  private  reasons.  It  was 
not  because  he  was  a  personal  friend  but  because  he 
seemed  to  be  the  man  best  fitted  for  the  work.  He 
proved  his  fitness  except  in  certain  particulars,  and 
his  deficiencies  in  those,  when  they  became  apparent, 
laid  upon  the  newspaper,  which  had  been  instru- 
mental in  turning  him  back  from  Egypt  to  the  war 
office,  a  peculiar  obhgation  of  frank  criticism. 


134.    FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

"Its  duty  was  to  the  nation  when  Lord  Kitchener 
was  appointed.  Its  duty  remained  to  the  nation 
when  the  time  came  to  choose  between  duty  to  the 
nation  and  blind  support  of  the  war  office. 

"No  pride  of  authorship,  no  fear  of  consequences, 
restrained  the  Northcliffe  press  when  the  hour  ar- 
rived to  save  England  through  bringing  out  ugly 
and  terrible  facts.  There  was  n't  a  single  sub- 
scriber or  line  of  advertising  or  any  other  immediate 
journalistic  advantage  to  be  gained  by  it.  There 
were  friends  to  be  lost.  There  was  misunderstand- 
ing hard  to  bear  and  not  to  be  cleared  away  in  a 
life-time.  But  things  had  to  be  done  or  all  the 
foundation  stones  upon  which  had  been  built  the 
work  of  a  lifetime  had  to  be  uprooted  and  cast  aside. 
And  far  beyond  all  that  the  country  would  continue 
to  suffer  from  unrectified  error. 

"The  criticism  of  the  Asquith  Government  has 
been  precisely  the  same.  The  charges  against  the 
Northcliffe  interests  of  personal  ambition  and  con- 
spiracy and  all  the  rest  have  come  from  imagina- 
tions fed  by  superabundant  ignorance  on  the  sub- 
ject of  independent  journalism. 

"Neither  friendship  nor  enmity  has  had  the  least 
part  in  shaping  the  policy  of  our  newspapers.  Mr. 
Asquith  and  Mr.  George  would  be  supported  and 
opposed  if  their  places  were  exchanged.  We  have 
tried  to  sweep  the  horizon  telescopically  to  find  the 
strong  spots  for  the  Allied  defense.    We  have  stud- 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     135 

ied  the  situation  agonizingly  for  men  to  lead,  above 
all,  for  the  man  who  could  rise  to  an  emergency. 

"The  man  whose  development  in  the  war  con- 
ditions was  the  best  and  biggest  did  not  happen  to 
be  in  our  own  political  camp.  He  was  on  the  op- 
posite side.  His  whole  ante-bellum  career  was  an- 
tagonistic to  the  political  principles  to  which  we  ad- 
hered. That  mattered  not  one  jot.  There  were 
neither  political  nor  personal  considerations  where 
the  country  was  at  stake. 

"It  is  not  only  because  of  Lloyd  George's  record 
that  he  has  the  support  of  the  Northcliff  e  press,  but 
his  selection  has  been  come  at  by  a  process  of  elim- 
ination. He  is  not  a  man  of  detail,  but  perhaps  it 
is  better  that  his  outlook  on  this  great  war  should 
be  unfettered  by  so  much  detail.  He  has  great 
vision.  He  will  penetrate  to  the  realities.  Things 
the  seeing  and  doing  of  which  in  season  would  have 
won  this  war  can  almost  be  counted  on  the  fingers 
of  one  hand.  Not  seeing  a  thousand  unessentials 
is  a  help  in  seeing  the  ten  essentials. 

"Lloyd  George  has  an  enthusiasm  that  is  in  itself 
genius.  He  infects  others  with  it,  and  thus  they 
are  made  to  put  forth  their  best  effort.  His  un- 
selfishness, his  sincerity,  his  sympathy  for  the  com- 
mon man,  his  pure  patriotism,  his  insight,  his  bound- 
less energy,  and  his  power  to  preach  to  the  nation 
the  uncompromising  faith  in  victory  which  animates 
his  whole  being  will  bring  success  to  his  leadership. 


136  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

"We  shall  see  the  war  stride  at  last.  The  ma- 
chine will  be  geared  to  run  at  high  speed.  The  un- 
alterable resolve  of  this  people  to  put  forth  every 
ounce,  the  very  last  agony  of  effort,  will  find  ex- 
pression in  a  human  being  responsive  to  that  su- 
preme will. 

"And  permit  me  to  add,  the  leadership  of  the 
greatest  democrat  in  the  world,  the  most  true  and 
tried  upholder  of  free  institutions,  and  the  most 
sincere  champion  of  common  people  should  renew 
and  make  vital  and  living  the  bonds  which  bind  us 
to  the  hundred  millions  across  water  who  enjoy  the 
same  liberty  and  who  are  of  our  tongue  and  blood." 

As  I  was  leaving  Lord  Northcliffe,  he  called  me 
back  and  asked  me  to  include  the  following  in  what  I 
cabled  to  the  "Times": 

"A  letter  has  been  quoted  here  as  having  been 
received  in  America  from  a  man  named  Trevelyan, 
who  writes  'M.  P.'  after  his  name,  and  purports  to 
put  forward  peace  aspirations  on  behalf  of  a  body 
of  sentiment  in  this  country.  He  may  be  a  member 
of  Parhament,  (there  are  670  of  them,)  but  if  he  is, 
I  never  heard  of  him." 

SIR   HORACE   PLUNKETT 

If  I  were  asked  to  mention  the  Britisher  who,  I 
think,  is  most  familiar  and  sympathetic  with  Amer- 
ica and  her  institutions  and  traditions,  Sir  Horace 
Plunkett  would  come  first  into  my  mind. 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     137 

I  have  happened  to  see  something  of  him  on  hoth 
sides  of  the  ocean,  and  he  seems  to  me  to  be  equally 
at  home  in  Washington  and  London.  He  is  a 
friend  of  President  Wilson  and  an  intimate 
of  both  Colonel  House  and  Colonel  Roosevelt. 
The  latter  found  in  him  a  most  helpful  adviser 
on  agricultural  and  conservation  subjects,  which 
he  made  important  concerns  of  his  administra- 
tion. When  recovering  from  the  injuries  re- 
ceived in  the  Irish  rebellion  a  year  ago,  Sir  Horace 
went  to  a  sanitarium  in  Michigan  for  the  period 
of  his  convalescence,  and  he  has  but  recently  re- 
turned. 

Sir  Horace  belongs  to  the  family  of  which  Lord 
Dunsany  is  the  head.  I  believe  that  his  father,  the 
late  baron,  had  some  cattle  interests  in  America. 
At  all  events,  the  present  Sir  Horace,  a  younger 
son,  went  to  Wyoming  in  1879  and  remained  in 
America  ten  years.  Wherever  he  goes  he  makes 
friends  through  his  gentle  optimism  and  sturdy 
character,  "the  synthesis  of  the  ideal  and  the  prac- 
tical," and  when  he  came  home  to  Ireland  he  left 
behind  him  associations  that  he  has  continued  to 
cherish. 

His  unanimous  selection  as  chairman  of  the  Irish 
Convention  was  a  unique  tribute.  Amid  all  the 
conflict  of  opinion  the  presidency  went  to  Plunkett 
by  common  consent.  He  is  certainly  entitled  to  re- 
gard his  choice  as  the  crowning  honor  of  a  life 


138  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

Vs. 

devoted  to  Ireland.  For  British  patriot  that  he  is, 
he  is  an  Irishman  to  his  heart's  core. 

His  life  has  been  a  labor  of  love  for  Ireland.  It 
was  one  of  those  rare  instances  in  which  high  motive 
and  practical  success  were  combined.  He  came 
back  from  America  in  1889,  thirty-five  years  of 
age,  with  an  irrepressible  enthusiasm  that  has 
been  molded  into  a  grand  purpose,  to  redeem  Ire- 
land from  poverty  to  prosperity.  With  the  pure 
zeal  of  a  crusader  he  went  about  preaching  coop- 
eration, cooperation,  cooperation,  cooperation  for 
the  purchase  of  seed,  so  as  to  buy  the  best  at  the 
cheapest  price,  for  the  purchase  of  fertilizer,  and 
for  the  marketing  of  the  crop.  All  of  this  Pat 
had  previously  done  in  the  happy-go-lucky  way  of 
his  race. 

The  work  went  slowly  at  first ;  only  a  pure  zealot 
would  have  held  on.  Having  finally  made  a  start 
in  building  a  cooperative  machine,  Plunkett  went 
after  legislation,  and  at  last  secured  the  passage  of 
laws  that  gave  tenants  right  of  purchase  on  favor- 
able terms. 

To-day  the  Ireland  that  groaned  under  its  hard- 
ships thirty  years  ago  is  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
sections  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  said  that  while  in 
politics  representatives  of  the  different  Irish  sec- 
tions will  beat  each  other's  brains  out  with  shillalahs 
on  sight,  the  same  representatives  will  sit  down  to- 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     139 

gether  in  amity  in  one  of  Sir  Horace  Plunkett's 
agricultural  meetings. 

These  facts  will  give  some  idea  of  the  fitness  of 
Sir  Horace  for  the  post  to  which  he  has  been  called 
and  the  momentum  that  his  selection  imparts  to  the 
cause  of  a  pacified  and  united  Ireland.  In  the  first 
flush  of  enthusiasm  that  this  act  of  the  convention 
has  generated  there  are  new  and  strong  hopes  of 
settling  the  problems  hitherto  regarded  as  insoluble. 
It  is  difficult  to  imagine  any  source  more  prolific 
of  encouragement  for  the  Allied  cause  than  such 
a  settlement.  Every  influence  in  America  that  can 
be  brought  to  bear  ought  to  be  counted  on,  for  the 
United  States  is  now  irrevocably  committed  to  this 
war,  and  it  is  a  case  of  "one  for  all,  and  all  for 
one. 

Incidentally  it  may  be  mentioned  that  one  of  Sir 
Horace  Plunkett's  cherished  ambitions  has  been  to 
serve  America  in  respect  to  her  agi'icultural  inter- 
ests. The  subject  is  one  about  which  he  has  writ- 
ten, and  I  know  that  he  stood  ready  to  give  some 
such  personal  leadership  as  he  gave  to  Ireland,  if 
desired.  In  the  last  year,  he  has  not  been  robust, 
and  in  such  a  cause  as  Irish  reconciliation  he  will 
put  out  the  last  ounce  of  his  strength.  IMa}^  success 
bring  him  rejuvenation  instead  of  exhaustion. 


UO    FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

MAJOR   ASTOR 

In  the  appointment  of  his  parhamentary  secre- 
taries Lloyd  George  once  again  illustrates  the 
happy  faculty  possessed  by  the  prime  minister  of 
drawing  upon  the  entire  civilization  for  public  serv- 
ice. His  hunt  for  available  material  is  not  limited 
by  faction,  party,  or  social  caste.  Of  lively  interest 
to  America  is  the  drafting  of  Major  Waldorf  Astor 
as  one  of  the  secretaries. 

Major  Astor  is  the  Conservative  M.  P.  for 
Plymouth,  and  the  eldest  son  and  heir  of  Lord 
(William  Waldorf)  Astor.  He  is  a  Conservative 
in  politics,  and  by  wealth  and  position  is  associated 
with  the  upper  class,  and  the  prime  minister  in  his 
wide  search  for  Government  servants  who  can  serve, 
singled  him  out.  To-day  Major  Astor  was  already 
at  work  superintending  the  erection  of  huts  which 
are  to  house  the  prime  minister's  staff,  in  the  gar- 
den, or  what  we  call  the  backyard,  of  No.  10 
Downing  Street.  For  JMajor  Astor  himself,  Mrs. 
Lloyd  George  has  given  up  two  rooms  that  belonged 
to  the  residential  part  of  the  premier's  headquar- 
ters, so  great  is  the  press  for  accom.modation  for 
the  enlarged  official  staff  made  necessary  by  the 
strenuous  war  program. 

When  I  saw  Major  Astor  to-day  I  could  appre- 
ciate the  reasons  for  Lloyd  George's  choice.  He 
has  the  ease  and  kindness  which  make  friends  in- 


BRITISH  MEN  OF  THE  WAR     141 

stantly.  If  I  had  not  laiown  who  he  was  I  should 
have  been  doubtful  from  his  manner  and  speech  as 
to  whether  he  was  American  or  English. 

As  is  well  known,  IMajor  and  Mrs.  Astor,  for- 
merly Miss  Langhorne  of  Virginia,  are  warmly 
American  in  sympathy  and  take  a  livelj^  interest  ki 
all  that  goes  on  across  the  Atlantic.  At  Cliveden, 
their  place  on  the  Thames,  they  have  made  room 
for  the  famous  Canadian  Hospital,  with  its  one 
thousand  beds,  where  everything  from  toothbrush 
to  cot  is  made  in  Canada.  Mrs.  Astor  devotes  her- 
self to  this  hospital,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  no  woman  has  given  herself  more  completely 
to  the  work  of  caring  for  the  wounded  and  helping 
the  permanently  incapacitated. 

Major  Astor  has  treated  the  war  as  an  oppor- 
tunity for  intensive  effort.  His  political  affiHations 
as  a  Tory  have  interfered  in  no  wise  with  his  willing- 
ness to  accept  service,  however  offered,  and  it  hap- 
pened that  circimistances  some  time  ago  brought 
him  within  the  orbit  of  the  present  prime  minister. 
It  speaks  well  for  the  breadth  of  both  that  they 
found  the  association  congenial  from  the  first,  and 
now  the  prime  minister  has  called  the  young  poli- 
tician to  his  side  in  delicate  and  important  work. 

At  the  risk  of  violating  the  modesty  of  Major 
Astor  I  am  going  to  gratify  the  interest  of  America 
by  dwelling  somewhat  upon  his  personality.  There 
are  few  young  men  in  either  the  political  or  social 


142  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

life  of  the  country  more  popular  or  more  trusted. 
If  fate  had  cast  his  lot  in  the  United  States,  it 
would  have  been  the  same.  His  talents  and  en- 
gaging qualities  lie  deeper  than  conventionality. 
If  he  were  in  New  York  he  would  make  a  live 
man  to  run  for  mayor  and  a  good  official  after  he 
was  elected,  and  perhaps  he  would  be  more  pop- 
ular on  the  east  side  than  on  Fifth  Avenue. 

Major  Astor  among  other  activities  has  belonged 
to  a  coterie  that  backed  and  edited  the  "Round 
Table,"  a  publication  a  good  deal  like  our  own 
"New  Republic."  The  chief  editor  of  the  "Round 
Table,"  Philip  Kerr,  is  to  be  another  secretary  to 
Mr.  Lloyd  George.  The  "Round  Table"  circle 
is  composed  of  live-wire  Conservatives,  men  of  high 
social  position  who  set  no  store  by  that,  but  who 
put  themselves  above  caste  by  rendering  real  serv- 
ice of  any  kind. 


CHAPTER  IX 

TO   EUROPE   WITH    PERSHING 

May  28 — June  7,  1917.  We  got  under  way 
about  five  o'clock  on  May  28.  As  far  as  we  could 
ascertain  there  was  no  convoy  and  we  had  the  fog- 
horn going  nearly  all  night. 

My  seat  was  at  the  captain's  table  with  some 
English  officers,  one  of  whom,  Colonel  Puckle,  had 
been  with  the  Balfour  party.  General  Pershing 
and  his  personal  staff,  constituting  a  party  of  eight 
or  ten,  had  a  table  to  themselves.  The  civilians,  or 
reserves,  all  wore  uniform,  while  the  regular  officers 
were  in  mufti.  Soldiers — except  the  staff — had 
their  meals  an  hour  earlier  than  passengers. 

In  the  afternoon  all  the  military  on  board  were 
ordered  to  appear  before  the  medical  staff  for  vac- 
cination against  smallpox,  typhoid,  and  para- 
typhoid, and  about  two  hundred  injections  were 
given.  The  technic  was  extremely  good,  a  fresh 
sterile  needle  being  used  each  time  and  the  skin 
cleaned  up  with  an  iodine  pad  applied  for  smallpox 
vaccination.  Most  of  the  men  were  good-humored, 
and  joked  while  the  operation  was  going  on. 

The  wonderful  health  record  made  in  the  army 

143 


144  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

and  the  absolute  suppression  of  typhoid  has  made 
every  one  a  willing  victim  to  the  medical  men. 

The  captain  stays  on  the  bridge  pretty  steadily. 
He  is  the  captain  who  went  down  with  the  Arabic. 
That  ship  sunk  eleven  minutes  after  being  hit.  We 
have  life-boats,  rafts,  and  belts  in  profusion,  fully 
four  to  one  of  the  requirements,  to  say  nothing  of 
our  non-sinkable  captain.  All  the  officers  are  busy 
studying  French,  and  are  much  interested. 
Classes  have  been  organized  by  INIajor  Robert 
Bacon,  Captain  Gustave  Forges,  Major  Bayne, 
and  the  staff  of  interpreters.  The  American  offi- 
cers are  profiting  greatly  by  lectures  given  by  ex- 
perienced English  officers  aboard,  and  military  con- 
ferences are  going  on  among  the  officers.  The  ship 
is  somewhat  shy  on  social  life,  as  there  are  only 
about  twelve  women  and  one  child  in  the  first 
saloon.     We  are  proceeding  at  less  than  full  speed. 

We  had  a  very  simple  di'ill  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  the  passengers  the  way  to  their  boats.  Al- 
though not  told  to  do  so,  most  of  the  passengers 
wore  life-belts  to  the  drill.  I  found  myself  in  boat 
No.  7  with  three  ladies  and  nine  men. 

The  method  of  assignment  was  to  put  the  military 
together  and  then  divide  the  rest  alphabetically  ac- 
cording to  the  passenger  list.  It  was  remarked  that 
only  high  officers  were  together  in  one  boat,  which 
savored  too  much  of  putting  all  your  eggs  into  one 
basket.     Fifteen  passengers  were  allotted  to  each 


TO  EUROPE  WITH  PERSHING    145 

boat,  the  full  capacity  of  which  was  sixty.  All  the 
boats  were  swung  out  on  the  davits  outside  the  rail 
on  deck. 

Purser  Thaw  made  a  short  address  at  luncheon, 
advising  warm  clothes  in  case  of  an  emergency,  and 
also  advising  sleeping  in  one's  clothes. 

The  usual  concert  for  seamen's  orphans  netted 
over  three  hundred  dollars,  a  record  for  the  number 
of  passengers.  There  were  readings  by  Lyn 
Harding;  Frederick  Palmer  spoke,  and  Miss  Juta 
sang. 

I  was  asked  to  make  an  appeal  for  the  children's 
claims,  which  I  did  in  part  as  follows : 

"We  make  our  appeal  to-night  for  the  sailorman 
of  the  merchant  ship — the  man  who  has  won  for  the 
world,  but  lost  for  himself.  He  has  always  been 
even  in  peace  times  a  modest  and  nameless  hero. 
Since  the  war  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  of  all  those 
who  served  his  country,  his  service  has  been  most 
truly  and  most  deeply  noble.  For  he  has  had  no 
countrj^  in  the  sense  of  its  having  furnished  him 
with  luxury  or  comfort.  Often  he  has  been  obliged 
to  leave  wife  and  children  ill-clad  and  poorly  fed. 
He  has  gone  out  to  sea  and  storm,  usually  without 
protection  of  guns  or  gunners,  to  meet  eye  to  eye 
the  stealthy  and  deadly  submarine,  has  met  it,  been 
cruelly  used  bj^  it,  and  then,  perhaps,  has  gone 
again  and  still  again.  We  might  have  lost  without 
the  merchant  sliip  and  its  gallant  crew,  these  men 


146  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

who  have  served  without  reward;  who  were  free  to 
refuse,  but  who  volunteered  their  services;  who 
braved  unseen  dangers ;  filled  unnamed  graves,  and 
left  their  children  to  an  uncertain  and  absent- 
minded  charity.  We  who  are  more  fortunate,  we 
who  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships  and  know  its  dan- 
gers and  its  terrors,  yes,  who  even  now  stand  in 
the  shadow  of  them,  we  should  feel  it  a  privilege  to 
give — give  to  the  children  of  those  who  have  died  in 
a  service  to  which  we  owe  our  freedom  and  life 
itself." 

But  the  big  feature  was  the  first  public  appear- 
ance of  General  Pershing,  who  made  a  fine,  soldier- 
like impression.  Colonel  Alvord  presided,  and  the 
occasion  was  altogether  successful. 

On  Sunday  Lyn  Harding  and  Dr.  Beaumont 
conducted  the  Episcopal  service,  and  passengers 
who  failed  to  attend  requested  another  service, 
which  was  held  in  the  evening.  In  the  afternoon 
Major  Hugh  Young  dehvered  an  interesting  ad- 
dress to  a  large  audience. 

At  dawn  on  June  6  destroyers  wheeled  into  line 
with  us  about  half  a  mile  off  our  forward  quar- 
ters, the  Stars  and  Stripes  flying  blithely  from  their 
mizzens.  As  the  day  wore  on  and  the  ship's  com- 
pany assembled  on  deck,  there  was  no  demonstra- 
tion or  ceremony,  but  there  was  general  satisfac- 
tion. The  destroyers  frisked  about  like  squirrels, 
speeding  up,   slowing  down,   crossing  our  bows, 


TO  EUROPE  WITH  PERSHING     147 

circling  round  the  ship,  and  otherwise  disporting 
themselves  after  the  fashion  of  a  four-funneled 
high-speed  war  craft  ready  to  dash  at  any  sea 
monster  that  might  appear.  How  inspiring  it  is  to 
see  the  bright  blue  banner  of  freedom  fluttering  at 
their  mastheads!  Ever>^  passenger  has  a  sense  of 
elation ;  his  stride  on  deck  becomes  more  elastic,  and 
light-hearted  laughter  rings  out  from  the  saloons. 
Men  and  women  stand  at  the  rail  for  hours  on  end 
watching  the  destroyers'  manoeuvers. 

We  did  not  know  it,  but  we  had  all  been  suffer- 
ing from  a  subconscious  nervous  strain.  Now  it  is 
lifted.  Uncle  Sam  has  come  to  Europe  with  his 
own  fighting  machines. 

There  is  something  of  a  national  drama  in  this 
voyage  for  freedom.  It  is  the  retm'n  of  the  May- 
flower, armed. 

ARRIVAL   IN    PARIS 

The  special  train  bearing  General  Pershing  and 
his  party  to  Paris  arrived  at  the  Gare  du  Nord. 
I  happened  to  be  where  I  had  a  close  view  of  the 
details  of  his  reception.  General  Pershing  ap- 
peared in  the  doorway  of  the  car:  immediately  in 
front  of  him  was  the  guard  of  honor  in  gray  uni- 
forms, and  at  the  left  the  band  of  the  Garde  Re- 
publicaine.  The  general  filled  the  small  door  of  the 
car  as  he  stood  erect,  motionless,  and  expression- 
less, his  eyes  fixed  above  the  heads  of  the  reception 


148  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

party,  which  occupied  the  clear  space  of  the  plat- 
form. The  band  immediately  struck  up  "The 
Star-Spangled  Banner."  His  right  hand  was  in- 
stantly at  salute  and  remained  so  until  our  national 
air  and  "La  Marseillaise"  were  finished.  There 
he  stood,  a  statuesque  figure,  the  very  impersona- 
tion and  incarnation  of  West  Point  training  and 
tradition,  as  fine  a  specimen  of  American-style, 
physical  manhood  as  could  be  found  in  a  month's 
search  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

When  the  music  stopped.  General  Pershing 
stepped  swiftly  down  the  car  steps  to  the  platform. 
Ambassador  Sharp  introduced  himself  and  wel- 
comed him;  then  came  Viviani.  After  the  latter's 
effusive  welcome  Pershing  turned  a  little  to  the 
right,  and  there  stood  "Papa"  Joffre.  I  never 
want  to  see  anything  finer  than  the  meeting  of  those 
two.  Involuntarily,  each  stretched  out  both  hands 
to  the  other.  They  stood  face  to  face  without  a 
word.  I  have  never  seen  such  a  smile  as  wreathed 
the  face  of  the  great  marshal.  It  did  not  change 
in  the  course  of  the  salutation.  His  eyes  were  so 
fixed  in  their  gaze  on  the  American  general  that 
they  looked  almost  blind.  There  was  no  need  for 
a  word  from  Joffre.  What  he  would  have  said 
was  as  plain  as  if  he  were  shouting  it :  *' You  have 
come,  God  bless  you!  a  splendid  soldier  from  a 
people  unconquerable  in  their  greatness,  to  help 
save  France — my  France!    I  know  your  country 


TO  EUROPE  WITH  PERSHING    149 

and  I  know  you,  and  the  salvation  of  France  is 
sure."  After  that  the  hand-shaking  with  Pain- 
leve,  with  the  representatives  from  the  Elysees,  and 
even  with  Foch,  seemed  perfunctory. 

As  the  party  moved  toward  the  gate  there  was 
a  shout — a  real  rebel  yell.  It  had  not  only  the 
volume,  but  the  tang  in  it ;  it  smote  one's  tympanum. 
It  took  me  back  to  New  York  and  the  shouting  for 
Joffre  that  rocked  the  Woolworth  Tower.  This 
rebel  yell  was  repeated  over  and  over  again.  It 
was  even  more  tremendous  when  the  party  reached 
the  street,  and  it  was  taken  up  and  spread  as  by 
an  electric  current  from  square  to  square  until  it 
became  faint  in  the  distance. 

I  was  able  to  get  a  taxi  and  rode  down  the  rue 
de  Lafayette  behind  the  military  party.  I  have 
often  seen  Paris  in  a  gala  mood  before,  but  to-day 
it  was  an  entirely  different  Paris.  The  people  on 
the  street  were  either  old  or  very  young.  The 
women  greatly  outnumbered  the  men.  Every  face 
wore  a  smile,  not  the  happy,  care-free  smile  of  the 
old  fete-days,  but  a  smile  that  clearly  came  from 
a  suffering  heart,  a  heart  that  feels  the  world  had 
tm*ned  so  bad  that  hope  has  almost  died,  that  the 
only  good  thing  left  is  to  meet  whatever  befalls  with 
patience  and  courage.  Then  suddenly  comes 
proof  that  there  is  good  in  the  world  after  all; 
there  are  chivalrous  hearts,  generous  impulses; 
there  is  kinship  among  men.     For  succor  had  come 


150  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

from  far  off,  beautiful  America.  Here  were  the 
actual  soldiers  who  were  to  be  followed  by  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  others,  bringing  not  weapons 
only,  but  warm  flesh  and  blood  to  help  France. 

IN    PARIS 

The  American  contingent  has  encountered  in 
Paris  a  spell  of  weather  that  is  homelike  in  its  heat. 
Last  night  at  the  Hotel  de  Crillon  I  found  that  the 
orderlies  who  keep  General  Pershing's  door  were 
fairly  pantmg.  As  I  came  out  one  of  them  said, 
"Would  you  mind  using  your  influence  with  these 
hotel  people  to  get  us  some  ice-water?"  I  went  to 
the  office  at  once  and  made  the  request,  which  was 
promptly  complied  with.  I  followed  it  up  to  see 
that  the  thirsty  dough-boys  got  the  real  thing,  and 
I  had  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  the  ice-water  hiss 
as  it  went  down  their  throats  from  an  upturned 
carafe. 

Speaking  of  private  soldiers,  some  of  those  who 
have  come  in  with  the  suddenness  of  patriotic  im- 
pulse are  feeling  a  bit  of  the  sting  of  distinction  of 
rank.  There  is  no  place  quite  so  unsafe  for 
democracy  as  an  army.  On  the  ship  it  did  n't  make 
much  difference.  Those  who  had  social  position 
at  home  were  able  to  maintain  a  certain  equality. 
Now  that  distinctions  of  rank  are  necessary  in  deal- 
ing with  the  French  Army,  privates  are  privates; 
they  cannot  break  through  by  virtue  of  some  noR- 


TO  EUROPE  WITH  PERSHING    151 

military  influence.  In  some  cases  the  result  has 
been  just  a  little  mortifying.  Men  of  breeding  and 
education  who  serve  as  interpreters,  clerks,  etc.,  are 
excluded  from  association  with  officers.  This  is  not 
by  any  wish  of  the  officers;  it  is  simply  military 
practice.     Deviation  is  impossible. 

A  burning  question  has  been  raised.  By  what 
name  shall  the  American  private  be  called?  The 
Englishman  is  a  Tommy,  the  Frenchman  a  Poilu. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  Sammy,  in  compliment 
to  Uncle  Sam,  would  be  appropriate.  And  some 
one  suggested  Teddy. 

This  expedition  is  one  of  the  greatest  experiences 
soldiers  ever  had,  and  our  men  are  enjoying  it. 
From  the  commander-in-chief  down  to  the  dough- 
boy, our  khaki  commands  the  attention  on  the 
streets  that  royal  purple  would  get.  The  Ameri- 
can soldier  is  the  cynosure  of  all  eyes;  the 
glances  are  intent,  affectionate,  caressing.  But  this 
life  in  France  isn't  all  ambrosia.  Now  that  the 
workaday  part  has  begun,  the  officers  are  realizing 
that  they  can't  continue  to  live  at  the  expensive 
hotels,  and  are  looking  about  for  quarters  more  in 
keeping  with  their  purses.  Comfort  and  cheapness 
do  not  go  hand  in  hand,  and  the  officers  are  having 
considerable  difficulty  locating  themselves  satis- 
factorily. I  met  a  lieutenant-colonel  to-day  in  the 
arcMde  on  the  rue  de  Rivoli  who  was  wrestling  with 
ihis  problem; 


152  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

''It  is  impossible  to  live  decently  in  Paris  on  the 
salary  of  an  officer  and  have  enough  left  to  support 
a  family  in  America,"  he  said,  mopping  his  brow. 
Before  I  had  gone  another  block  I  met  a  private 
whom  I  had  come  to  know  on  the  Baltic.  "Hav- 
ing a  fine  time?"  I  asked.  "So-so,"  he  replied. 
"But  let  me  tell  you  something.  I  was  so  hot  last 
night  that  I  had  to  have  a  drink  of  whisky.  I  went 
out  and  looked  for  it  and  I  found  it.  But  what 
do  you  think  it  cost  me?  Fifty  cents!  F-i-f-t-y 
c-e-n-t-s  for  one  drink  of  whisky!" 


CHAPTER  X 

OUE  AKMY   IN   FRANCE 
AERIVAL 

July  1, 1917.  As  our  party  rode  through  the  fair 
French  country,  every  acre  bursting  with  ripened 
plenty,  there  were  many  quarter  hours  of  anxious 
silence,  and  it  was  an  immense  relief  to  find  our 
gallant  fellows  all  safe  when  we  arrived  at  a  port. 

We  felt  like  making  a  round  of  the  commanders 
and  shaking  hands  on  their  outwitting  Boche 
prowlers,  and  cabling  congratulations  to  Washing- 
ton on  excellent  arrangements  well  carried  out.  In 
normal  conditions  it  would  be  something  of  a  feat 
to  bring  so  many  boats  and  men  across  the  Atlantic 
without  even  a  minor  mishap ;  to  do  it  in  the  teeth  of 
hostile  submarines  was  to  win  America's  first  round 
against  Germany. 

Aside  from  feeling  that  we  had  scored  hand- 
somely on  this  particular  venture,  there  was  solid 
satisfaction  in  the  practical  demonstration  that 
troops  in  large  numbers  could  be  sent  across  the 
ocean,  and  that  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  an 
American  army  big  enough  to  count  in  the  final 
decision  would  surely  be  landed  in  France. 

153 


154  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

There  was  soon  opportunity  for  more  enthusiasm. 
We  saw  looming  through  the  mist  the  shapes  of 
other  transports  coming  up  to  the  dock.  One  of 
them  passed  so  close  that  eveiy  face  was  visible. 
The  docks  were  literal^  yellow  with  men.  There 
must  have  been  a  thousand  in  sight.  We  could 
have  shaken  hands  with  those  nearest  us.  There 
was  not  a  sound  from  them,  no  singing,  no  shout- 
ing. Even  when  I  hailed  them  and  asked  them 
about  the  voyage,  there  came  back,  and  only  from 
two  or  three,  a  single  word,  "Good,"  or  "Fine." 
They  had  not  found  themselves  in  this  strange 
country.  They  had  had  a  long  voyage,  packed  like 
sardines  in  transports  menaced  by  a  silent  and  in- 
visible enemy.  They  were  a  beautiful  lot  of  young- 
sters, clean-limbed  and  bright-eyed. 

Just  as  the  transport  was  abeam,  somebody  on 
the  bridge  called  out  through  a  megaphone: 
"Don't  stand  at  the  rail !  You  're  not  here  for 
ornament!"  There  was  a  scampering,  and  two  or 
three  dozen  men  ran  up  a  companionway  below  the 
bridge.  When  they  had  reached  a  barrier  at  the 
top  they  all  vaulted  it  with  the  lightness  of 
antelopes. 

We  spent  a  good  part  of  the  day  walking  about 
among  the  newly  arrived  soldiers  and  were  con- 
stantly sti-uck  with  their  intelligence  and  independ- 
ence. They  came  from  a  civilization  in  which 
equality  and  fraternity  were  genuine.     They  were 


OUR  ARMY  IN  FRANCE  155 

real  human  beings;  there  was  no  stamp  of  the 
humiliation  that  comes  from  habitual  acknowledg- 
ment of  social  inferiority.  But  this  attitude  does 
not  interfere  with  their  accepting  military  dis- 
cipline. West  Point  traditions  are  unbending  in 
that  matter. 

The  troops  were  glad  to  touch  earth  after  the 
long  voyage,  but  among  the  recruits  there  was  some 
reaction.  A  seaport  town  in  a  strange  country  on 
a  rainy  da}^  does  not  redeem  the  promise  made  to 
the  imagination  of  an  adventuring  j^oungster. 

It  was  pay-day,  and  in  the  afternoon  the  streets 
began  to  be  crowded  with  khaki-clad  figures,  and  as 
the  effect  of  the  voyage  wore  off,  there  was  in- 
creased curiosity  and  animation.  "Banque"  was 
the  fii'st  French  word  the  soldiers  had  to  tackle,  and 
it  gave  them  no  trouble.  "Bankwee"  was  their  way 
of  saying  it. 

One  of  General  Pershing's  orderlies,  who  stood 
watching  them  go  into  a  bank  to  get  French  money, 
growled  patronizingly,  as  one  knowing  the  country 
and  having  enormous  experience,  "They  won't  have 
a  cent  left  to-morrow." 

Intensely  interesting  it  was  to  watch  this  swarm 
from  the  West,  to  feel  the  vivid  contrast  with  the 
European  order  and  civilization,  and  to  speculate 
on  the  effect  of  the  linking  of  the  two.  It  will  be 
enormous  and  permanent.  In  parts  of  France  to- 
day you  see  Mongolian  types  surviving  from  in- 


156  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

vasions  centuries  ago.  Americans  will  leave  their 
imprint  here,  and  take  home  with  them  influences 
that  may  modify  American  thought. 

The  arrest  of  two  stevedores  for  using  profane 
language  furnished  an  amusing  incident.  They 
were  carried  off  to  the  lockup  in  deference  to 
French  bystanders,  though  the  objectionable 
language  might  very  well  have  been  thought  by  the 
said  bystanders  to  have  been  American  for  ''Vive 
la  France/' 

Another  amusing  feature  was  the  curiosity  in  one 
another  shown  by  various  kinds  of  negroes.  I  saw 
some  of  our  good  Southern  darkies  trying  to  make 
friends  with  black  soldiers  straight  from  Africa,  and 
of  course  they  could  n't  understand  a  word  either 
said,  though  all  of  them  looked  exactly  alike. 

The  general  and  his  staff  arrived  at  the  port  at 
an  early  hour  in  the  morning.  The  attitude  of 
residents  was  one  of  mild  interest  and  curiosity. 
There  was  no  outburst  such  as  greeted  General 
Pershing  in  Paris.  They  were  met  by  local  officials 
and  a  fair-sized  crowd,  and  drove  at  once  to  inspect 
the  camp.  Everybody  was  pleased  at  the  results 
accomplished  in  so  short  a  time.  The  camp  seems 
sanitary  and  adequate.  Naturally,  work  has  only 
just  begun;  a  war  city  will  spring  up  here  within 
a  few  months. 

We  met  one  or  two  friends  among  naval  officers, 
and  I  had  the  welcome  opportunity  of  going  aboard 


OUR  ARMY  IN  FRANCE  157 

a  destroyer.  It  was  beautifully  shipshape  after  the 
long  voyage,  and  both  officers  and  men  were  fresh 
and  fit,  despite  their  constant  vigilance.  To  look 
into  the  faces  of  such  men  and  hear  their  sensible 
and  confident,  but  never  boastful,  talk,  is  to  get 
re- Americanized. 

PARIS 

July  4,  1917.  The  appearance  in  Paris  of 
organized  soldiery  from  America  come  to  fight  the 
Germans  side  by  side  with  the  French,  and  their 
marching  through  the  streets  of  Paris  to  ragtime 
music  produced  by  their  own  bands  in  the  presence 
of  tremendous  crowds,  all  on  the  anniversary  of 
American  independence,  constituted  one  of  the 
great  historical  occasions  of  all  time.  Next  will 
come  their  occupation  of  their  part  of  the  line  at 
the  front,  and  then,  let  us  hope,  the  realization  of 
Judge  Walter  Berry's  climax  in  to-day's  speech, 
"Their  arrival  on  the  Rhine." 

I  saw  the  show  from  many  vantage-points  from 
eight  o'clock  this  morning  until  the  finish. 

Everybody  I  saw  was  most  impressed  by  the 
crowds.  They  might  be  bigger  and  noisier  in  New 
York,  but  I  have  never  seen  so  many  wearing  their 
hearts  on  their  sleeves  as  to-day.  There  were  seas 
of  faces  everywhere,  war-bitten,  trustful,  eager. 
Of  young  men  there  was  almost  complete  absence. 
Women  of  all  ages,  young  boys,  old  men,  and  tens 


158  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

of  thousands  of  little  children  lined  the  streets. 
They  had  picked  up  broken  bits  of  English,  Hke, 
"Welcome,"  "Glad  you  're  here,"  and  "Happy  to 
see  you,"  which  they  flung  almost  with  sobs  of 
laughter  with  the  flowers  they  tossed  upon  the 
troops  and  into  the  carriages. 

A  smile  from  any  one  wearing  an  American 
uniform  awakened  in  their  eyes  an  expression  of 
delight  that  only  Latins  are  capable  of.  I  saw  one 
old  soldier  in  tears  which  he  made  no  attempt  to 
conceal  while  the  ceremony  was  in  progress  at  the 
Invalides. 

Although  the  infantry  were  mostly  recruits, 
they  made  a  splendid  impression.  It  was  a  pity 
that  it  was  impracticable  to  pick  out  a  body  of 
regulars  only  for  an  occasion  from  which  Paris  will 
have  received  a  permanent  impression. 

There  was  a  wait  of  half  an  hour  or  more  at  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  for  rest  and  freshening  up.  There 
I  fell  in  with  a  Frenchman,  a  drill-master,  who  had 
been  handling  American  and  English  recruits.  He 
commented  favorably  on  our  lot,  which  he  had  had 
opportunity  to  inspect  closely.  "As  human  beings 
and  raw  material  they  're  the  very  best,"  he  said, 
"but  they  need  a  deal  of  training.  The  hardest 
thing  to  teach  them  is  not  to  be  too  brave.  They 
must  learn  first  to  hide.  That 's  the  prime  essential 
in  this  war.     Bravery  and  human  flesh  are  no  good 


OUR  ARMY  IN  FRANCE  159 

against  machine-guns  or  barrage  fire.  Those 
splendid  fellows  will  want  to  go  right  at  the  enemy- 
just  as  the  English  did,  who  are  only  now  learning 
how  to  strike  without  risking  themselves  too  much. 
Methods  in  this  war  are  largely  those  of  stealth; 
you  must  use  men  in  combination  with  plenty  of 
artillery,  machine-guns,  and  air-planes. 

General  Pershing  rode  with  Major  Margetts, 
passed  us,  and  drew  up  for  review  on  the  Boulevard 
Diderot,  where  it  is  crossed  by  the  avenue  Dum- 
eril  beyond  the  Bastille.  A  wee  girl  brought  a 
bouquet,  climbed  on  the  running-board,  and 
presented  it  to  General  Pershing,  who  smiled  his 
pleasure.  The  spectators  in  this  part  of  the  city 
were  of  a  class  who  would  be  ugly  in  a  revolutionary 
period,  but  they  were  all  smiles  to-day.  When  the 
troops  marched  past,  they  were  almost  entirely 
hidden  behind  the  crowds,  mostly  women  running 
alongside.  At  the  hospital  entrance  of  the  ceme- 
tery General  Pershing  joined  Marshal  Joffre,  and 
they  stayed  together  throughout  the  ceremony  and 
sat  together  afterward.  There  was  a  tremendous 
press  inside  the  cemetery.  Many  of  the  women 
were  carrying  babies,  and  the  men  were  holding 
up  floral  pieces  above  their  heads.  Brand  Whit- 
lock's  address  was  a  classic,  and  his  characterization 
of  German  Kultur  as  "the  camouflage  of  civiliza- 
tion"  was   most   apt.     Colonel   Stanton  gave   us 


160  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

twenty  minutes  of  old-fashioned  Fourth  of  July 
eloquence,  while  General  Pershing  made  his  usual 
soldierly,  two-minute  address. 

FIELD   HEADQUARTERS 

August  19,  1917.  The  contrast  of  the  great 
numbers  of  Americans  with  this  Old  World  en- 
vironment in  which  they  find  themselves  never  loses 
its  vividness  for  me.  To  study  this  contrast  be- 
tween new  country  and  old  country  with  all  the 
advantage  of  juxtaposition  excites  an  interest  little 
short  of  thrilling.  Never  was  there  such  a  spectacle 
in  all  history  as  that  of  the  fresh  millions  of  free 
America  flocking  to  the  rescue  of  beleaguered  and 
exhausted  Europe. 

My  heart  was  full  when  I  mingled  with  my 
khaki-clad  compatriots  in  the  little  valley  that  con- 
stitutes the  field  headquarters,  but  it  was  the  full- 
ness of  home  feeling  and  familiarity,  rather  than 
pride.  Having  seen  much,  as  I  have  recently,  of 
the  martial  breed,  I  was  just  a  bit  disappointed  to 
find  myself  in  an  atmosphere  much  less  surcharged 
with  war.  Perhaps  it  is  yet  too  early  to  expect 
otherwise,  but  as  I  went  up  and  down  among  these 
young  fellows,  talking  to  as  many  as  I  could,  they 
seemed  still  mothers'  boys  to  me,  specially  my  own 
Southerners  with  their  soft  accents.  As  soon  as 
they  knew  that  they  were  talking  to  a  friend  from 
home,  they  set  up  a  cry  for  a  popular  brand  of 


€11 


AT    BAPAUME 


OUR  ARMY  IN  FRANCE  161 

tobacco  which  cost  ten  cents,  or  perhaps  less,  in 
America,  but  which  can't  be  bought  here  for  less 
than  as  many  francs  per  bag.  All  other  kinds  of 
tobacco  are  plentiful;  only  what  the  soldiers  want 
is  scarce. 

It  is  wonderful  how  these  young  chaps  have 
settled  down  into  the  village  life.  Of  course  they 
don't  speak  French,  but  they  manage  to  understand 
and  make  themselves  understood.  The  popula- 
tion of  the  village  is  pretty  much  limited  to  women 
and  children,  and  they  have  been  captivated  by  the 
free  and  fearless  friendship  that  the  American  boys 
promptly  tendered  to  them.  In  the  quiet  summer 
night  the  French  women  sat  five  or  six  on  a  bench 
in  front  of  their  houses  in  the  main  street.  I  drew 
many  of  them  out  on  the  point  of  how  they  liked 
the  change  from  deserted  village  conditions,  which 
had  prevailed  previously.  They  were  frankly 
charmed.  They  liked  the  American  boys,  indeed, 
loved  them,  they  were  so  affectionate  and  consid- 
erate. ''GentiV  was  the  word  most  used.  It  had 
been  a  great  change  for  the  better  since  they  had 
come  to  bring  Hfe  and  movement  to  their  town  and 
later.  Heaven  grant,  to  bring  an  end  to  the  cruel 
war  to  which  this  one  small  community  had  con- 
tributed its  whole  manhood ;  over  sixty  would  never 
return. 

My  room  was  in  a  neat  little  house  tenanted  by 
a  young  widow  with  five  small  daughters.     She 


162  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

kept  a  store  in  the  front  part,  let  the  rear  room, 
and  lived  on  the  second  floor.  This  house  was  a 
kind  of  headquarters  for  our  soldiers.  They  petted 
the  children,  who  in  return  taught  them  French, 
and  the  exchange  was  accounted  mutually  profit- 
able. I  talked  with  the  mother,  and  she  said  that 
the  character  and  conduct  of  these  young  fellows 
had  been  a  revelation  to  her.  She  specially  com- 
mented on  their  inborn  regard  for  women  which 
one  does  n't  see  manifested  so  positively  in  a 
European  country,  and  said  they  were  always  want- 
ing to  do  something  for  her,  and  as  for  the  children, 
they  idolized  them. 

I  saw  soldiers  drawn  up  in  line  awaiting  a  visit 
of  inspection.  As  at  the  port  when  they  arrived 
at  the  end  of  June,  so  here  they  won  my  spontaneous 
admiration  as  raw  material  for  an  army.  They 
were  all  in  good  health  and  spirits,  but  not  yet, 
so  far  as  I  could  judge,  inoculated  with  any  particu- 
lar militarism.  I  could  n't  help  being  reminded  of 
an  encampment  of  State  militia. 

I  was  not  content  to  be  constantly  shown  around, 
but  wandered  about  alone  part  of  a  day,  seeing 
as  much  as  I  could  in  a  short  time.  I  inspected 
two  kitchens,  and  found  them  clean,  with  excellent 
food  and  cooking.  I  climbed  to  a  hayloft  in  which 
twenty-five  men  were  billeted.  A  half-dozen  were 
sitting  on  the  floor  eating  a  midday  dinner  of  beef 
stew,    white    bread,    and   coffee.     It    looked    and 


OUR  ARMY  IN  FRANCE  163 

smelled  good.  This  loft  was  taken  care  of  by  an 
old  "Dick  Deadeye"  of  a  Frenchman,  who  was 
evidently  enjoying  his  experiences  to  the  full,  and 
referred  to  the  soldiers  as  his  "amis,"  but  I  was 
somewhat  disappointed  to  notice  that  "Dick's" 
general  friendliness  extended  to  the  spiders,  who 
had  spun  their  webs  at  will  under  the  roof. 

I  dined  at  the  division  officers'  mess  in  one 
village  and  at  the  battalion  officers'  mess  in  another, 
and  in  both  had  good  food  and  enjoyed  real  Ameri- 
can hospitality.  At  one  of  these  meals  I  had  a 
chance  to  get  the  regular-army  officers'  side  of  the 
question  of  promotion,  as  I  had  before  heard  the 
reserve  officers'.  I  sat  next  to  a  captain  who  had 
enlisted  thirty-two  years  ago.  He  served  thirteen 
years  as  a  private  and  non-commissioned  officer. 
It  had  taken  him  nineteen  years  to  pass  from 
second  lieutenant  to  captain.  Perhaps  a  case  like 
this  may  suggest  a  new  line  of  thought  to  your 
reserve  officers  of  a  few  months  who  grow  im- 
patient at  delay  in  promotion. 

I  went  from  one  village  to  another  until  I  found 
myself  at  the  very  end  of  the  American  field  head- 
quarters. IVIy  visit  had  fallen  out  fortmiately,  for 
in  this  last  lot  I  found  what  I  had  been  wishing 
for.  Here  it  was  not  a  case  of  hundreds  of  young 
soldiers  strewn  about  anyhow;  there  was  organiza- 
tion, atmosphere,  authority ;  you  might  be  shot,  but 
it  would  be  for  cause  and  not  by  accident. 


164  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

I  suppose  I  would  not  be  permitted  to  identify 
the  troops  to  whom  I  refer.  But  I  know  that 
General  Petain  identified  them.  They  had  waited 
from  eight  in  the  morning  till  five  at  night  to  be 
inspected.  When  the  generals  came,  these  troops, 
showing  not  the  faintest  sign  of  fatigue,  went 
through  the  appropriate  portion  of  drill  with  beauti- 
ful precision  and  snap.  What  was  the  difference 
between  this  regiment  and  the  others?  As  far  as 
I  could  learn,  the  proportion  of  regulars  and  re- 
cruits was  precisely  the  same.  Apparently  the 
difference  lay  chiefly  in  the  possession  by  this  regi- 
ment not  only  of  its  own  officers,  but  its  own 
history  and  traditions.  Pride  in  a  past  stimulated 
new  men  to  strenuous  exertion.  It  was  obvious 
that  this  regiment  might  be  profitably  used  as  a 
pace-maker  for  other  regiments.  Just  as  here  the 
regulars  gave  the  cue  to  the  recruits,  so  could  the 
example  of  the  regiment  as  a  whole  be  made  potent 
to  arouse  a  spirit  of  emulation  throughout  the  whole 
new  army.  Here  are  soldiers  ready  at  the  blowing 
of  a  bugle  to  go  in  against  the  Germans.  Their 
village  is  a  Spotless  Town.  They  wash  their  own 
clothes  every  night;  their  leather  and  metal  are 
bright  with  polishing;  they  move  smartly;  they  are 
every  inch  of  them  soldiers  from  head  to  heel. 

As  the  army  organization  progresses,  the 
experience  of  this  regiment,  as  well  as  of  all  regi- 
ments in  the  English  army,  would  seem  to  point 


OUR  ARMY  IN  FRANCE  165 

to  the  adoption  of  names  for  different  units. 
Tradition  is  evolved  out  of  a  name  and  preserved 
in  it.  Pride  in  your  regiment  works  wonders. 
Who  can  recall  without  a  thrill  such  names  as  Cold- 
stream Guards,  Black  Watch,  Grenadier  Guards, 
Gordon  Higlilanders,  Dublin  Fusiliers,  Royal 
Fusiliers?  The  only  approach  to  a  parallel  that 
we  have  in  our  army  seems  to  have  helped  to  pro- 
duce a  result  that  is  most  excellent,  even  when 
judged  by  expert  European  standards. 

I  dined  at  the  officers'  mess  of  this  regiment,  and 
if  anything  could  have  increased  my  sense  of  satis- 
faction, it  was  the  information  dieted  by  comparing 
notes  at  the  table.  Of  the  six  regimental  officers 
present  four  were  Virginians. 

"Oh,  carry  me  back  !     Carry  me  back ! 
To  old  Virginny's  sho !" 

HUGE   TONNAGE   NEEDS   OF   OUR   ABMY  ABROAD 

The  American  army  in  France  will  need  some 
transporting.  Here  are  figures  that  are  at  least 
approximately  correct. 

It  is  estimated  that  one  hundred  pounds  of 
freight  per  man  per  day  must  be  unloaded  at  the 
port  of  debarkation.  Therefore,  when  at  the  end 
of  two  years  we  have,  say,  one  million  men  in 
France,  we  must  unload  daily  one  hundred  million 
pounds  or  fifty  thousand  tons  of  freight. 


166  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

Three  thousand  tons  can  be  unloaded  daily  from 
a  good-sized  ship;  hence  seventeen  ships  at  the 
wharves,  each  of  them  unloading  three  thousand 
tons,  will  fill  the  requirements.  In  the  United 
States  seventeen  ships  must  be  loading  fifty 
thousand  tons  a  day.  This  makes  a  total  of  thirty- 
four  ships  at  the  docks.  Taking  as  a  basis  a  six- 
thousand  ton  (dead  weight)  ship,  we  see  that 
seventeen  ships  must  leave  New  York  every  two 
days  and  seventeen  ships  leave  some  French  port 
eveiy  two  days  in  transit  with  army  freight. 
Assuming  ten  days  as  the  time  of  passage,  there 
would  be  one  hundred  and  seventy  ships  (six 
thousand  tons)  en  route  to  and  from  the  United 
States,  which  added  to  the  thirty-four  at  the  docks 
will  make  a  total  of  two  hundred  and  four  ships, 
assuming  no  loss  or  delay. 

To  indicate  the  quantities  of  certain  articles  re- 
quired, fuel  for  cooking  for  six  months,  on  a  basis 
of  half  a  cord  a  day  per  hundred  men,  would 
amount  to  tliirteen  thousand,  five  hundred  cords 
and  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  fuel,  part  of  this  may 
have  to  be  brought  to  France. 

With  one  million  men  there  will  be  approx- 
imately two  hundred  thousand  animals.  At 
fourteen  pounds  of  hay  a  day,  there  would  be  re- 
quired for  six  months  over  four  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  million  pounds  of  hay,  which  must  be  imported, 
and  also  three  hundred  and  sixty  million  pounds 


OUR  ARMY  IN  FRANCE  167 

of  oats.  Rations  will  require  eight  hundred  and 
fifteen  million  pounds.  Ammunition  will  run  into 
billions  of  pounds. 

This  freight  calculation  does  not  consider  what 
would  be  required  in  building  and  rebuilding  rail- 
roads or  cantonments.  The  space  required  for 
storehousing  at  the  base  would  be  about  as  follows : 
Rations,  etc.,  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres ;  fuel,  one 
himdred  and  fifty  acres;  forage,  four  hundred  and 
fifty  acres ;  remount  depots,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
acres;  cantonments  for  casuals,  etc.,  eight  hundred 
acres;  sick  and  wounded,  one  thousand  acres; 
engineer,  ordnance,  and  signal  corps,  fifteen 
hundred  acres.  Allowing  for  roads,  office-build- 
ings, barracks,  etc.,  the  total  would  be  about  five 
thousand  acres. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  AGONY  OF   FRANCE 

The  ruined  towns  of  Belgium  and  France  have 
been  written  about  so  much  that  we  have  all  become 
case-hardened,  and  I  was  surprised  at  the  fierce- 
ness of  my  own  reaction  to  such  wanton  acts  as  ap- 
pear in  the  ruins  of  Peronne,  Bapaume  and  Arras. 
I  was  reminded  of  what  Sir  Johnston  Forbes- 
Robertson  had  said  on  the  destruction  of  priceless 
architecture  by  the  Boche.  He  set  it  down  as  a 
greater  injury  to  mankind  than  the  loss  of  life. 
The  latter  was  replaceable,  but  the  spirit  that,  com- 
ing forth  from  the  great  silences  of  a  past  without 
railroads,  telegraphs,  or  other  modern  conveniences, 
had  expressed  itself  in  painting,  poetry,  and  archi- 
tecture, would  perhaps  never  return  to  the  world, 
and  so  the  works  that  it  had  created  and  left  behind 
could  never  be  produced. 

Take  Peronne,  for  example.  Here,  in  a  vale  on 
the  Somme,  a  country  town  was  built  four  or  five 
hundred  years  ago  with  a  poetic  taste  and  artistic 
enterprise  not  possible  to-day  in  any  city  of  any 
size  and  wealth.  When  the  Germans  saw  that  they 
could  hold  Peronne  no  longer  they  dynamited  every 

168 


THE  AGONY  OF  FRANCE        169 

single  building  that  had  been  left,  including  the 
beautiful  cathedi-al  and  city  hall.  In  the  former 
was  found  a  facetious  notice  in  English:  "Don't 
be  annoyed,  but  admire." 

Peronne  was  literally  pounded  to  a  pulp.  There 
was  not  a  cubic  yard  of  it  left  whole. 

Nor  does  this  state  of  ruin  fully  convey  the 
extent  of  Boche  meanness  and  devilry.  Take  the 
placard,  "Don't  be  annoyed,  but  admire,"  and  apply 
the  spirit  in  a  thousand  ways,  little  and  big,  and 
even  then  there  will  come  only  a  hint  of  the  Boche 
nature  in  war.  For  example,  sewage  deposits  were 
thinly  covered  over  with  coal  to  deceive  the  French 
into  thinking  for  a  moment  that  some  supply  of 
fuel  had  been  left. 

When  I  saw  and  heard  these  things,  I  recalled 
with  less  skepticism  the  stories  I  had  heard  from 
the  Americans  who  had  come  away  from  Berlin. 
To  give  a  single  instance,  one  doctor  reported  this 
scene  to  which  he  had  been  an  eye-witness:  there 
was  an  idiot  in  the  village  near  a  prison  camp.  One 
day  an  automobile  ran  over  him  crushing  his  legs  at 
the  knees.  He  lay  in  the  street,  screaming  with 
agony,  while  around  him  gathered  a  crowd  that 
laughed  loudly  at  what  they  regarded  as  sport. 

I  have  since  heard  similar  stories  from  officers 
personally  known  to  me  who  have  given  me  chapter 
and  verse.  For  example,  the  binding  and  burning 
of  wounded  prisoners  by  the  Boche  is  vouched  for 


170  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

by  a  second  lieutenant  with  whom  I  played  golf 
at  St.  Andrews  before  the  war,  and  in  whose  bona 
fides  I  have  the  utmost  confidence.  I  have  never 
before  felt  quite  willing  to  accept  the  stories  of  war 
cruelty  at  par. 

One  needs  to  go  no  further  than  the  physical  evi- 
dence of  barbarous  destruction  at  Peronne,  Ba- 
paume,  and  Arras  to  justify  the  feeling  that  the 
German  has  so  long  and  so  fully  surrendered  him- 
self to  cumulative  war  impulses  and  war  education 
that  he  is  at  last  a  different  being  from  the  rest. 
Kipling's  classification  of  the  world's  people  into 
"human  beings  and  Germans"  is  not  wide  of  the 
mark,  and  a  visit  to  the  cities  wantonl}^  ruined  by 
the  Germans  with  their  overwhehning  testimony  of 
unspeakable  brutality  compel  an  acceptance  of 
extremist  views  in  respect  to  the  method  of  dealing 
with  Germany.  The  good  in  that  country  must 
suff^er  with  the  bad,  for  it  is  the  bad  who  have  been 
permitted  to  have  full,  unbridled  sway. 

It  was  a  relief  to  return  from  such  scenes  to  the 
pleasant  chateau  where  I  was  a  guest,  and  the  talk 
of  fellow-visitors,  among  them  General  Georgiesco, 
the  Rumanian  lieutenant-general,  who  represents 
the  supreme  military  command  of  his  country  at 
the  British  front. 

He  gave  me  an  interesting  idea  of  the  strategic 
situation  of  France.  The  frontier  of  France,  he 
said,  bent  back  from   Switzerland  on  the  south- 


THE  AGONY  OF  FRANCE        171 

east  to  the  channel  on  the  northwest.  Forces  de- 
fending the  country,  therefore  were  precisely  in  the 
position  of  a  man  trying  to  fight  while  leaning  so 
far  backward  as  to  lose  his  equilibrium.  General 
Joffre's  problem  was  to  square  himself  round  to 
the  German  attack,  and  this  he  had  successfully 
done. 

General  Georgiesco  was  at  the  front  partly  to 
inspect  the  Portugese  troops,  who  are  much  in  ev- 
idence in  the  Bethune  neighborhood  and  near  the 
base.  They  are  eager  for  military  duty  and  when 
well  led  shall  make  a  good  showing. 

There  were  some  members  of  the  British  govern- 
ment at  the  chateau.  A  subject  of  conversation 
was  the  new  financial  position  brought  about  by 
America's  coming  in.  The  importance  of  freeing 
England  from  the  strain  of  financing  the  AlHes 
single-handed  can  hardly  be  overstated.  It  had 
reached  the  back-breaking  point.  America's  open- 
handedness  with  her  boundless  resources  has  not 
only  removed  the  danger  of  disaster  through  ex- 
haustion, but  has  enabled  Britain  to  turn  with  a 
comparatively  free  mind  to  her  own  particular  prob- 
lems of  perfecting  her  great  military  machine  and 
providing  protection  against  the  submarine. 

EHEIMS 

This  ruined  French  town  has  become  a  place  of 
pilgrimage,  like  Jerusalem  or  Mecca.     To  come  to 


172  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

Rheims  is  a  pious  act.  From  every  corner  of  the 
globe  people  find  their  way  to  this  ghost  of  a  city 
for  spiritual  rebirth,  and  to  pledge  themselves  anew 
to  the  overthrow  of  brute  force  that  has  here  shown 
itself  at  its  foulest. 

It  is  here  that  the  conviction  of  German  crim- 
inality becomes  irresistible,  for,  alas!  the  sight  of 
Rheims  destroys  the  power  to  think  of  Gennany 
in  sections.  The  kaiser  is  a  vandal  and  a  murderer, 
and  his  people  particeps  criminis.  It  is  all  one 
monstrous,  brutal  German}^  the  unprotesting  good 
only  servuig  the  dominant  bad  the  better  by  their 
supine  goodness. 

The  cathedral  is  a  pitiful  spectacle.  You  almost 
burst  into  tears  at  sight  of  it.  And  yet  the  poor 
mutilated  remains  of  one  of  the  noblest  of  all  the 
works  of  man  may  serve  an  even  greater  purpose 
than  the  church  ever  did  in  its  perfect  wholeness. 
Out  of  its  destruction  has  sprung  a  spiritual  temple, 
an  intangible,  but  very  real,  structure  in  the  heart 
of  the  world. 

The  battered  ruin  has  done  more  to  recreate  rev- 
erence on  earth  than  any  church  ever  built.  It  also 
serves  another  great  pm'pose.  In  every  fight  be- 
tween right  and  wrong  there  is  an  micertainty  as 
to  where  one  begins  and  the  other  leaves  off.  Moral 
confusion  is  often  the  worst  feature  of  such  a  strug- 
gle. In  this  mightiest  of  all  moral  contests,  Rheims 
is  tangible,  monumental,  unmistakable  testimony. 


THE  AGONY  OF  FRANCE        173 

Rheims,  Louvain,  Ypres,  Arras,  Lille,  Perorme — 
but  the  greatest  of  these  is  Rheims. 

The  cathedral  as  it  stands  to-day  is  the  inde- 
structible record  of  Prussian  villainy.  There  can 
be  no  distortion  of  facts  or  truth.  Lying  and  sub- 
terfuge will  avail  nothing  here.  The  cruel  wounds 
here  inflicted  write  the  doom  of  Prussianism. 

And  "when  ye  spread  forth  your  hands,  I  will 
hide  mine  eyes  from  you :  yea,  when  ye  make  many 
prayers,  I  will  not  hear:  your  hands  are  full  of 
blood." 

I  am  visiting  Rheims  in  a  rain-storm.  The  scene 
is  one  of  complete  and  utter  desolation.  The  cathe- 
dral has  been  the  target  of  German  gunners,  and 
everything  in  the  line  of  fire,  including  an  area  ap- 
parently about  half  a  mile  by  a  mile,  which  takes 
in  the  heart  of  Rheims,  has  been  shattered. 

There  seemed  a  sad  irony  in  the  fact  that  while 
such  buildings  as  the  beautiful  city  hall  have  been 
destroyed,  the  hideous  new  court  house  immediately 
opposite  the  cathedral  has  so  far  escaped.  The  fa- 
mous equestrian  statue  of  the  Maid  of  Orleans  is 
still  intact,  although  there  is  a  big  shell  hole  within 
a  few  feet  of  it. 

The  state  of  the  cathedral  has  been  described  over 
and  over  again.  There  has  been  no  intense  bom- 
bardment recently,  but  whenever  the  Boche  finds 
things  dull  he  fires  a  shot  or  two  at  the  church. 
Each  month  the  destruction  is  worse  than  it  was  the 


174  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

previous  month.  Every  sort  of  projectile,  from  a 
three-inch  to  a  sixteen-inch  shell  has  been  shot  into 
the  great  pile. 

One  of  the  main  Gothic  colmnns  supporting  the 
transept  has  been  shattered,  and  the  whole  central 
portion  of  the  super-structure  appears  to  be  on  the 
point  of  collapse.  The  famous  rose-window  has 
been  shot  out,  but  I  am  happy  to  learn  that  much 
of  the  priceless  stained  glass  of  other  windows  was 
removed  to  a  place  of  safety. 

My  visit  to  Rheims  was  under  a  very  dis- 
tinguished escort.  I  was  with  Captain  Gerard  de 
Ganay,  who  is  one  of  the  heads  of  the  great  Creusot 
munition  works,  which  bears  the  same  relation  to 
France  that  Krupp's  does  to  Germany. 

Of  course  we  visited  Cardinal  Lu9on.  His  pal- 
ace has  been  destroyed,  and  he  has  moved  to  one  of 
the  parish  buildings  across  the  street.  There  he 
holds  the  fort,  shells  or  no  shells. 

He  is  a  hero  without  any  heroics.  He  tells  the 
story  of  his  experiences  with  feeling,  lighted  up 
now  and  again  with  humor.  We  sat  in  a  circle 
around  him,  and  listened  with  enchanted  interest, 
watching  the  while  the  play  of  his  mobile  face. 
Before  saying  good-by,  I  asked  if  his  Eminence  had 
any  message  for  America. 

"Yes,"  he  replied  promptly;  and  as  he  spoke  one 
of  the  party  translated  his  words  into  English. 
The  translation  follows: 


THE  AGONY  OF  FRANCE         175 

Through  the  "New  York  Times"  I  send  my  salutations  to 
the  United  States  in  the  name  of  my  city,  my  diocese,  and 
my  country.  We  thank  you  for  your  cooperation  in  the  fight 
which  we  are  carrying  on  for  the  defense  of  the  principles  of 
right,  of  humanity,  and  respect  for  treaties,  which  are  the 
safeguards  of  the  peace  of  nations.  I  thank  you  also  for  the 
charitable  offerings  which  you  have  sent  us  for  relieving  the 
misery  caused  by  the  war. 

The  venerable  prelate  went  with  us  to  the  door 
and  even  followed  us  outside,  where  he  stood  uncov- 
ered in  the  rain,  so  great  was  his  interest  in  our 
visit.  In  saying  adieu  to  him  at  last,  I  ventured 
to  tell  him  how  great  a  part  his  own  courage  and 
devotion  played  in  the  American  conception  of  the 
destruction  of  Rheims.  And  I  may  add  that  at  this 
assurance  of  our  appreciation  he  was  frankly 
pleased. 

We  went  to  the  French  trenches  opposite  the 
point  where  much  of  the  artillery  fire  is  rained  on 
the  cathedral  by  the  Germans,  and  looked  our 
strafe  at  them  from  the  front  line  across  a  few 
acres  of  no-man's-land.  All  was  very  quiet  on  this 
sector,  but  a  few  miles  further  west  there  was  in- 
tense activity,  probably  in  connection  with  the  great 
offensive  since  so  successfully  developed. 

Not  even  in  Alsace  have  I  experienced  a  more 
charming  welcome  and  hospitality  than  in  these 
trenches  in  front  of  Rheims.  The  faces  of  the  offi- 
cers were  literally  beaming  with  trust  and  affection. 


176  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

not  for  me,  but  for  my  glorious  country.  As  we 
turned  back  from  the  remotest  front,  the  officer  who 
had  had  charge  of  us  bade  us  good-by,  as  his  route 
lay  in  the  opposite  direction. 

In  a  few  seconds  there  came  the  sound  of  some 
one  overtaking  us  at  a  run.  I  turned  round,  and 
there  was  the  officer  back  again.  "America  for- 
ever!" he  was  crying,  ''Au  revoir  and  America  for- 
ever!" Who  but  a  Frenchman  would  have  such  a 
pretty  emotion  and  give  way  to  it?  It  may  be 
deep  as  a  well  or  shallow  as  a  brook,  I  care  not.  It 
is  brightness  in  this  vale  of  tears. 

When  we  got  back  to  the  boyau  trenches,  where 
the  headquarters  of  the  sector  were,  we  went  into 
the  semi-subterranean  quarters  of  the  captain  and 
sat  down,  a  party  of  eight,  for  a  discussion  of  what 
we  had  seen.  There  was  the  inevitable  bottle  of 
wine  to  put  good  fellowship  in  flow.  It  was  inter- 
ested to  observe  that  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Cham- 
pagne country  the  tipple  was  Italian  Asti. 

After  three  quarters  of  an  hour  of  comradely 
communion  we  said  good-by  and  then  turned  and 
shook  hands  a  second  time  with  men  who  almost 
certainly  had  an  early  tryst  with  death  and  yet 
apparently  never  gave  it  a  thought.  They  were 
a  light-hearted  company ;  it  was  we  who  were  sad. 

This  sadness  deepened  as  we  reentered  the  ruined 
city  in  the  darkness.     There  was  scarcely  a  light 


THE  AGONY  OF  FRANCE        177 

anywhere.  When  we  passed  a  house  that  had  a 
light  in  it  we  surmised  that  it  must  be  an  undertaker 
catching  up  with  his  work. 

I  must  not  omit  mention  of  a  hero  of  my  own 
craft.  Within  a  few  feet  of  the  apse  of  the  cathe- 
dral, across  a  narrow  wind,  is  what  is  left  of  the 
office  and  plant  of  the  Rheims  paper,  "L'Eclaireur 
de  I'Est." 

This  paper  comes  out  daily,  about  six  inches 
square,  folio,  and  it  has  never  missed  an  issue.  Its 
plant  has  been  shot  all  to  pieces.  A  pressman  lost 
his  life  while  operating  a  hand-press. 

It  used  to  be  a  fine  little  plant,  with  three  or 
four  linotypes  and  as  many  presses  for  newspaper 
and  job  work,  and  the  building  was  commodious  and 
suitable.  When  I  paid  my  visit  to-day,  there  was 
scarcely  a  whole  piece  of  machinery  in  the  shop. 
The  roof  and  floors  were  full  of  holes,  and  the 
mechanics  work  in  the  rain.  The  floors  and  the 
contents  of  the  building  were  sopping  wet,  and  the 
conditions  were  altogether  as  miserable  as  it  was 
possible  to  imagine. 

There  was  one  discord  in  this  diapason  of  melan- 
choly. Everybody  was  cheerfully  busy.  Every 
face  beamed  happiness  and  good  humor.  Back  of 
it  all  there  must  be  a  chivalrous  heart  that  is  proof 
against  trial.  I  was  sorry  not  to  have  the  chance 
of  shaking  the  hand  of  the  editor  and  proprietor, 


178  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

but  he  had  gone  out  when  I  called.  His  was  the 
indomitable  spirit;  that  I  could  tell  by  the  way  the 
employes  spoke  of  him.  He  has  the  name  to  go 
with  such  a  character  and  career — Paul  Dramas. 
Good  luck  and  long  life  to  you,  Monsieur  Dramas ! 


CHAPTER  XII 

IN   SWITZERLAND 

Bern,  August  8,  1917.  Switzerland  is  the  ren- 
dezvous of  nations,  but  the  line  between  the  bellig- 
erents is  severely  drawn.  In  Bern  many  of  the 
diplomatic  group  live  at  the  principal  hotel.  The 
secretaries  from  the  German  legation  have  a  big 
table  in  one  corner  of  the  dining-room,  where  they 
talk  gaily  at  meal-times,  but  as  they  go  in  and  come 
out,  passing  former  friends  among  the  American 
secretaries,  they  are  stone-blind,  and  so  are  the 
Americans. 

Switzerland,  and  especially  Bern,  the  capital,  is 
at  present  a  beehive  of  German  propagandism. 
Politicians  from  Berlin,  German  diplomatists  in  the 
service,  German  business  men  with  international 
connections,  German- American  journalists,  are  all 
putting  out  talk  intended  to  filter  through  and  cre- 
ate the  impressions  desired. 

Those  Germans  charged  with  the  management  of 
this  war  are  believers  in  "putting  things  over"  or 
under,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  the  Zeppelin  and 
the  U-boat  correctly  present  the  w^ar  mind  of 
Germany.     Nothing  comes  about  spontaneously. 

179 


180  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

Great  principles  count  for  naught.  Right  and  jus- 
tice are  empty  words.  The  race  is  to  the  swift,  the 
battle  to  the  strong.  A  lie  is  as  good  as,  yea,  better 
than  the  truth  if  you  can  make  it  stick,  for  the 
strong  and  the  clever  can  "make  the  worse  appear 
the  better  reason." 

That  is  the  brand  of  German  Kultur  that  one  sees 
and  feels  in  Switzerland,  and  it  is  probably  predom- 
inant in  these  times  in  the  direction  of  the  affairs 
of  Germany.  I  do  not  say  that  the  whole  German 
people  have  lost  all  sobriety,  love  of  truth,  and  sin- 
cerity. But  Germany  is  the  country  of  discipline. 
There  is  leadership,  and  the  people  trust  and  obey 
it.  It  has  thus  come  about  that  a  leadership  of 
lies,  of  lust  of  power  and  self-seeking,  has  had  the 
support  of  the  enfeebled  moral  sense  of  a  people 
of  whom  the  great  majority  are  individually  sound 
and  right-loving. 

Either  because  it  suits  the  German  stage-manage- 
ment, or  because  neither  the  fact  nor  the  knowledge 
of  it  can  any  longer  be  suppressed,  the  impression 
is  spreading  in  Switzerland  that  the  scales  are  fall- 
ing from  the  eyes  of  the  German  people.  This  im- 
pression comes  to  me  necessarily  second-hand  and 
largely  through  Swiss  intermediaries. 

There  is  a  law  forbidding  communications  with 
citizens  of  an  enemy  country.  Germans  come  to 
Switzerland  by  the  thousand.  Politicians  like  Herr 
Erzberger,  leader  of  the  Catholic  party,  come,  hoist 


IN  SWITZERLAND  181 

a  flag  of  truce,  and  invite  peace  parleys.  Some  may 
be  acting  in  sincere  good  faith.  Yet  it  is  harder  for 
a  German  to  get  a  hearing  than  for  the  proverbial 
camel  to  pass  through  the  pedestrian's  gate  of  the 
city.  The  Germans  have  only  themselves  to  thank. 
They  have  trifled  with  world  confidence  and  have 
lost  it. 

What  is  here  set  down  comes  from  German 
sources  and  must  be  discounted  accordingly.  I  hear 
that  there  has  been  a  marked  change  in  Germany, 
specially  in  these  latter  months.  The  recent  action 
of  the  Reichstag  (by  its  action  in  July,  1917,)  fur- 
nishes testimony  that  carries  conviction  to  all  who 
are  familiar  with  German  conditions.  It  is  claimed 
that  it  shows  two  things  of  enormous  significance: 

1.  That  public  opinion  has  established  itself  as  a 
force  in  the  exact  sense  that  it  is  a  force  in  democ- 
racies, and  is  already  more  potent  than  the  kaiser. 

2.  That  public  opinion  is  for  peace  on  terms  humil- 
iating to  neither  the  Entente  nor  the  Central  Allies, 
that  is,  peace  without  indemnity,  annexation,  or 
commercial  boycott. 

Germany's  standing  out  against  indemnities  is 
not  to  be  referred  to  financial  reasons.  It  means 
that  she  is  not  willing  to  put  herself  to  her  people, 
to  her  posterity,  and  to  the  world,  in  a  position  of 
having  waged  a  wicked  war.  She  feels  keenly  the 
isolation  she  has  been  forced  into  by  having  twenty- 
four  nations  arrayed  against  her.     She  knows  that 


182  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

she  will  have  to  face  a  hostile  and  scornful  world. 
But  she  can,  and  does,  feel  now  as  if  her  moral 
isolation  is  the  result  of  the  misunderstanding  of 
the  rest  of  the  world. 

The  payment  of  an  indemnity  would  write  her 
down  a  felon  in  her  own  eyes  and  those  of  the  world. 
She  will  shed  her  last  drop  of  hlood  before  accepting 
such  hmniliating  terms. 

All  the  claims  of  liberalization  must  be  discounted 
by  the  undeniable  fact  that  the  kaiser  remams  strong 
with  the  people.  His  service  to  the  country  before 
the  war  was  entered  upon,  his  devotion  to  work, 
his  religious  character,  and  the  family  life  led  by 
him,  supplemented  by  the  fine  character  of  the 
kaiserin,  make  it  difficult  for  any  sentiment  against 
the  Hohenzollern  dynasty  to  gain  headway. 

Probably  a  majority  of  the  people  want  some 
form  of  democracy,  but  thej^  retain  a  sense  of  loy- 
alty to  the  present  sovereign.  The  kaiser  is  per- 
sonally much  stronger  than  Pan-Germanism,  which, 
specially  outside  of  Germany,  makes  a  noise  out 
of  all  proportion  to  its  numbers.  The  Pan-German 
papers  that  are  so  much  quoted  in  London,  Paris, 
and  New  York  are  journals  of  small  circulation  and 
influence,  the  most  important  having  only  about  ten 
thousand  circulation,  as  against,  say,  half  a  million 
for  the  largest  socialist  paper. 

Relations  with  Austria  are  said  to  give  no  anxiety 


IN  SWITZERLAND  183 

in  Germany,  for  the  latter  has  an  unbreakable  grip 
on  the  Austrian  Army.  After  the  breakdown  in 
the  face  of  Brusiloff's  di'ive  the  Austrian  Army  was 
reorganized  by  Germany,  which,  it  is  claimed,  has  a 
majority  of  the  rank  and  file,  and  virtually  all  the 
higher  oMcers  in  every  regiment.  Austria-Hun- 
gary is  powerless,  and  if  she  attempted  to  make  a 
separate  peace,  what  Vienna  could  deliver  to  the 
Entente  wouldn't  be  worth  the  offense  that  such 
a  move  would  give  to  Italy. 

The  people  of  Germany  are  represented  as  being 
in  a  quiet  state  of  mind  and  ready  for  all  sacrifices, 
provided  only  that  the  Government  shall  seize  the 
first  opportunity  for  peace  without  humiliation.  It 
is  claimed  that  there  is  n't  the  slightest  danger  of 
strangulation  by  blockade.  Oil  is  coming  from 
Rumania,  and  more  and  more  will  be  received ;  grain 
will  come  from  the  same  source  later  in  the  season. 
There  is  the  greatest  care  in  the  use  of  munitions, 
but  this  is  a  matter  of  policy  rather  than  of  necessity. 
In  air-planes  Germany  is  relatively  stronger  than 
a  few  months  ago. 

Paper  money  is  abundant  and  serves  every  pur- 
pose, for  Germany  has  very  little  international 
trade  that  calls  for  real  money.  The  very  poor  are 
better  off  than  in  times  of  peace,  as  are  the  very 
rich. 

To  sum  up  the  claims  implied  by  current  talk 


184  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

among  Swiss  people  who  have  German  connections, 
inside  conditions  in  Germany  may  be  briefly  stated 
as  follows: 

First,  Bethmann's  resignation  and  Michaehs's 
appointment  were  the  result  of  a  real  political 
crisis  arising  from  deep-seated  and  significant  con- 
ditions. 

Secondly,  Germany  realizes  the  importance  of 
America's  entry  into  the  war,  and  realizes  also  that 
the  next  six  months  will  probably  oifer  a  more 
favorable  time  for  peace  than  after  America's  army 
has  taken  its  place  on  the  western  front. 

Thirdly,  The  four-party  coalition,  which  con- 
trolled the  Reichstag  by  a  large  majority,  repre- 
sents public  opinion  in  equal  or  greater  proportion. 
The  resolution  adopted  voices  such  a  genuine  desire 
for  peace  on  the  terms  therein  promulgated  that 
Micliaelis  will  be  obliged  to  adhere  to  them  or  to 
resign. 

Fourthly,  There  is  a  real  pubhc  opinion  in  Ger- 
many to-day  that,  while  not  antagonistic  to  him,  is 
in  some  measure  independent  of  the  kaiser.  This 
is  increasingly  aggressive  in  its  effort  to  enforce  its 
demands,  and  means  a  distinct  and  definite  advance 
toward  liberal  government. 

Fifthly,  June  marked  the  low  point  in  food 
supply.  Green  vegetables  have  somewhat  im- 
proved conditions,  and  the  near  approach  of  harvest 
temporarily  relieves  the  strain. 


IN  SWITZERLAND  185 

Sixthly,  The  opinion  is  divided  as  to  whether  the 
submarine  is  coming  up  to  reasonable  expectations, 
but  the  majority  sentiment  is  that  the  benefit  of  un- 
restricted U-boat  war  does  n't  offset  the  danger  and 
loss  involved  in  America's  coming  in.  The  press 
under  orders  from  Hindenburg  has  recently  been 
emphasizing  submarine  effectiveness,  and  there  is 
increasing  popular  optimism  on  that  subject. 

If  man-power  is  declining,  it  is  not  visible  to 
civilian  observation.  Supplies  of  war  material  are 
sufficient,  and  military  conditions  generally  have 
suffered  no  impairment. 

The  accounts  of  the  political  crisis  are  interesting. 
There  has  been  a  growing  impatience  with  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg.  He  came  to  be  regarded  as  inver- 
tebrate and  inefficient,  as  well  as  a  sort  of  Jonah. 
Germany  had  had  numerous  victories ;  for  example, 
the  defeat  of  Russia  in  1915,  the  conquest  of  Ru- 
mania, the  showing  made  by  the  submarines,  and 
always  the  war  map,  which  an  abler  chancellor  might 
have  turned  to  account  in  bringing  the  war  to  an 
end.  In  these  circumstances  a  peace  should  have 
been  concluded  on  some  favorable  occasion  any  time 
in  the  last  two  years  and  nine  months. 

From  the  battle  of  the  Marne  on,  it  was  clear 
that  the  typical  Prussian  victory  by  onset  alone  was 
not  for  this  time.  The  German  public  has  grown 
hungrier  for  peace,  but  the  chancellor  failed  to  react 
to  the  German  impulse;  he  conciliated,  discussed. 


186  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

postponed,  paltered,  and,  trying  to  please  every- 
body, has  pleased  nobody. 

Finally,  public  opinion  working  on  the  Reichstag 
brought  about  an  untenable  position  for  Bethmann. 
The  four-party  coalition  was  the  direct  result  of 
the  popular  unrest,  of  the  demand  of  the  people  for 
an  energetic  initiative  for  peace.  There  are  three 
hundred  and  seventy-nine  votes  in  the  Reichstag. 
Of  these  the  Centrists,  or  Catholics,  have  ninety- 
one;  the  Socialists,  eighty-nine;  the  National  Lib- 
erals, (business  men,)  forty-four;  the  Progressives, 
forty.  This  coalition  thus  controlled  a  large  ma- 
jority, but  it  was  not  altogether  homogeneous. 

The  three  main  causes  of  unrest  were  the  desire 
for  peace,  dissatisfaction  with  the  voting  system  in 
Prussia,  and  the  wish  of  other  German  states  to 
have  it  regularized,  and  dissatisfaction  with  Beth- 
mami.  The  trouble  was  that  all  the  members  of 
the  four  parties  could  n't  be  lined  up  on  all  three 
proposals. 

It  was  at  this  stage  that  Herr  Erzberger  con- 
cluded to  "start  something,"  and  the  bomb  that  he 
threw  led  to  an  excitement  and  stampede  that  con- 
solidated the  position.  In  vain  the  chancellor 
pulled  his  wires.  Even  the  mysterious  hints  set 
afloat  that  the  Emperor  Charles  wanted  him  re- 
tained were  unavailing. 

There  was  some  disappointment  among  members 
of  the  four-party  coalition  at  Dr.  Michaelis's  speech 


IN  SWITZERLAND  187 

on  his  assumption  of  the  chancellorship.  In  his 
official  relation  with  the  Prussian  diet  he  will  do 
all  that  can  be  done,  which  is  to  communicate  the 
desire  of  the  Reichstag  for  voting  reform  in 
Prussia.  This  is,  after  all,  a  matter  for  Prussia, 
just  as  it  is  a  matter  for  Maryland  to  say  who 
shall  and  shall  not  vote  for  members  of  her  general 
assembly;  at  least,  that  is  the  contention  of  those 
who  are  opposed  to  any  change  in  Prussia. 

Unless  there  is  some  change  in  the  military  aspect 
that  causes  a  revulsion  in  popular  sentiment,  the 
chancellor  must  proceed  with  the  peace  program 
when  the  Reichstag  reassembles  in  September, — or 
at  the  call  of  the  President  before  that, — or  the 
coalition  will  compel  the  kaiser  to  name  a  new 
premier.  The  power  of  the  Reichstag  is  not  direct, 
but  as  it  holds  the  purse-strings,  it  can,  theoretically 
at  least,  dictate  policy  even  to  the  kaiser. 

The  food  situation  is  represented  as  less  acute. 
June  was  the  hard  month.  The  people  stood  the 
strain  because  they  believed  that  peace  was  coming. 
The  idea  of  peace  had  got  abroad  and  was  almost 
an  obsession.  The  Government  had  spread  it,  and 
the  masses  suffered  patiently  because  they  believed 
that  the  Government  was  moving  toward  peace. 

When  popular  discontent  over  starvation  and 
other  sacrifices  became  menacing,  speeches  of  allied 
orators  or  editorials  from  newspapers  were  quoted 
and  emphasized  to  show  that  Germany  must  endure 


188  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

to  the  end  on  peril  of  her  destruction.  The  answer 
of  the  Entente  last  December  to  Germany's  peace 
suggestion  has  been  used  over  and  over  again  to 
show  Germans  that  they  must  fight  or  die. 

The  attitude  toward  America  is  a  mixture  of  fear 
and  contempt,  at  least  among  the  militarists  who 
are  in  charge  of  this  war.  They  would  like  to  think 
that  the  Spanish  and  Mexican  Wars  fm-nish  the 
scale  by  which  American  capacity  for  war  is  to  be 
measured.  But  when  they  look  at  American  re- 
sources in  wealth  and  population,  and  when  they 
turn  to  the  direct  evidence  of  German-born  citizens 
in  America  as  to  her  earnestness  and  purpose,  theu' 
contempt  fades  into  fear,  and  they  quail  at  the  pros- 
pect. 

The  talk  now  put  out  here  is  that  Germany  real- 
izes that  America  is  sure  to  come  in  with  all  her 
weight,  and  that  because  of  this,  Germany  must  take 
whatever  steps  for  peace  she  has  in  mind  within  the 
next  few  months.  It  is  declared  that  Germany 
carefully  refrains  from  any  act  that  might  inflame 
America  toward  her  and  thereby  accelerate  her 
preparations.  It  would  be  possible,  they  say,  to 
torpedo  American  transports  and  passenger  ships, 
but  submarine  commanders  have  rigid  instructions 
not  to  touch  them. 

Unless  compelled  by  circumstances,  Germany 
will  do  nothing  to  rouse  American  fighting  spirit, 
and  will  hope  that  peace  can  be  concluded  before 


IN  SWITZERLAND  189 

America  gets  into  the  trenches  "with  both  feet,"  or 
that  the  submarine  can  so  reduce  shipping  tonnage 
as  to  make  transport  on  a  large  scale  impossible 
within  the  next  six  months,  except  at  the  cost  of 
starving  England  and  France  or  cutting  off  sup- 
plies for  the  Entente  armies. 

August  9,  1917.  This  was  a  day  set  for  a  visit 
to  the  English  internment  camp  at  Miirren.  It  is 
a  four  hours'  ride  by  way  of  Interlaken  and  Lauter- 
brunnen ;  thence  there  is  a  climb  of  about  two  thou- 
sand feet  by  a  funicular  railroad,  followed  by  a  few 
miles'  ride  on  the  very  edge  of  a  precij^ice  that  com- 
mands a  matchless  view  of  the  noble  peaks  opposite, 

Miirren  occupies  a  peninsula  about  one  third  of 
the  altitude  of  the  Jungfrau,  4167  meters  high.  It 
faces  the  great  granite  fortress  that  is  the  Jung- 
frau's  base,  of  which  the  walls  seem  less  than  a 
golf  drive  distant,  but  are  actually  more  than  two 
miles.  The  top  of  Jungfrau  would  be  five  miles, 
as  the  crow  flies,  with  the  Monch  and  Eiger  in 
full  view  on  the  left.  Between  the  gi-anite  base 
and  the  snow  line  are  green  stretches  on  which,  they 
told  us,  chamois  were  even  then  grazing,  but  they 
were  not  visible  to  the  naked  eye. 

There  is  nowhere  in  the  world  a  finer  scenic 
beauty  than  at  and  from  Miirren,  but  one  must  n't 
speak  of  it  to  the  soldiers.  They  're  "fed  up"  on 
scenery.     All  the  same,  when  it 's  all  over  and  they^ 


190  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

get  back  to  Blighty,  and  peace  comes  with  its  chores 
and  hardships,  many  a  time  they  '11  recall  what 
happy  days  those  were  at  Miirren. 

There  are  now  about  four  hundred  British  sol- 
diers, including  about  twenty  officers,  interned  at 
Miirren.  The  camp  was  opened  in  August,  1916. 
All  but  a  small  percentage  are  wounded  men,  and 
most  of  them  came  from  prison  hospitals  in  Ger- 
many. They  tell  of  their  experiences  in  these  hos- 
pitals with  wry  faces. 

The  men  are  mostly  English,  but  Canada,  Aus- 
tralia, and  even  America,  are  represented.  Max- 
well, a  Philadelphian  of  Scotch  parentage,  who  en- 
listed as  a  private  with  the  Canadians,  has  charge 
of  the  shop  where  watches  are  repaired.  There  is 
also  a  carpenters'  shop,  a  printing-office,  which  turns 
out  a  camp  newspaper  about  once  a  month,  a  tailor's 
shop,  and  a  chauffeurs'  school.  The  latter  has 
graduated  a  number  of  men  who  are  running  cars  in 
various  parts  of  Switzerland. 

There  is  a  dentist  who  has  treated  four  thousand 
teeth  in  his  camp.  His  wife  helps  him,  and  they 
have  won  the  gratitude  of  the  men  for  their  devoted 
and  skilful  service.  There  is  a  good  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
organization,  with  nice  quarters  and  a  hall  where 
entertainments  are  given. 

As  it  was  a  brilliant  day,  games  of  cricket,  associ- 
ation foot-ball,  and  hockey  were  in  full  swing  this 
afternoon.     "Not    much    sign    of    weakness    and 


IN  SWITZERLAND  191 

wounds  in  that  lot,"  I  remarked  to  the  lieutenant 
colonel  as  we  watched  the  gay  scene  from  a  bench 
that  commanded  a  view  of  all  three  games.  "Ah! 
but  you  should  have  seen  them  when  they  came 
here!"  he  replied.  The  foot-ball  team  was  prac- 
tising for  a  go  with  the  Bern  team  the  next  Sunday. 
There  is  a  base-ball  game  now  and  again. 

There  are  a  gi'eat  many  glass  eyes.  I  talked  with 
an  Irish  officer  who  had  one  almost  as  good  to  look 
at  as  the  good  eye.  "I  had  some  made  in  Geneva," 
he  said.  "Jolly  good  eyes  they  make  in  Geneva  1" 
He  was  a  young  fellow  about  twenty-four  or 
twenty-five.  At  first  I  didn't  recognize  his  race, 
and  asked  what  part  of  England  he  was  from.  "I 
am  not  an  Englishman,"  he  snapped  back.  He  was 
a  Dublin  man.  "Wlien  I  inquired  where  he  had 
been  hit,  he  couldn't  remember  the  name  of  the 
place  for  a  minute  or  two  and  screwed  up  his  face 
in  the  effort.  "Oh,  yes,  Thiepval,"  he  said,  "the 
bally  name"  suddenly  coming  back  to  him. 

All  tlie  world  remembers  Thiepval  and  the  gal- 
lant work  of  the  Connaught  Rangers  on  July  1, 
1916,  but  a  Connaught  officer  shot  on  that  day  has 
dwelt  so  little  on  the  episode  that  he  must  have  time 
before  he  can  recall  the  name  of  the  place.  A 
rifle  bullet  entered  his  right  cheek,  passed  through 
the  eye,  and  came  out  above  the  bridge  of  the  nose. 

He  was  greatly  interested  in  the  Flanders  battle. 
"Do  you  think  it  is  going  to  be  a  really  big  show?" 


tl92    FLASHES  FROM  THE'  FRONT 

he  asked.  He  was  sorry  that  there  didn't  seem 
much  chance  of  his  going  back  home.  He  and  all 
other  officers  I  talked  with  were  very  keen  on 
getting  with  the  Americans  to  train  recruits.  They 
dread  winter  at  Miirren  not  only  because  of  the 
cold,  but  because  deep  snow  covers  the  whole  place 
except  one  street,  which  is  kept  clear  and  affords 
the  only  chance  of  outdoor  exercise. 

The  officer  under  whose  guidance  I  looked  about 
was  a  captain  in  the  Buffs.  His  battalion  was 
wiped  out  at  Loos  in  September,  1915,  and  he  was 
badly  wounded,  and  captured  by  the  Germans.  He 
was  a  stock-exchange  broker  and  enlisted  in  August, 
1914.  His  family  have  joined  him  at  Miirren,  and 
they  have  a  nice  cottage  on  the  side  of  the  moun- 
tain. 

The  village  itself  is  extremely  picturesque.  The 
streets,  which  are  little  more  than  walks  and  the 
prettier  for  being  narrow  and  winding,  have  been 
reclu'istened  with  London  names,  the  usual  Picca- 
dilly, Fleet  Street,  Strand,  Edgware  Road,  and 
Regent  Street.  Further  to  carry  out  the  illusion 
of  the  big  city  on  the  Thames  the  plainer  end  is 
called  Whitechapel. 

The  officers  and  soldiers  are  quartered  in  the  well- 
known  Hotel  des  Alpes.  The  back  building  is 
given  over  to  the  Tommies,  who  have  nice,  neat 
rooms  with  two  or  three  single  beds  in  each.  It 
makes  you  cry  to  see  the  walls  of  these  rooms  with 


IN  SWITZERLAND  193 

their  profusion  of  photographs  from  home,  wives, 
childi-en,  fathers,  mothers,  sisters. 

It  was  a  pleasant  disappointment  to  find  such  a 
gay  company,  and  to  see  such  good  progress  in  re- 
coveiy  from  wounds.  The  day  impressed  me  anew 
with  the  wonderful  recuperative  power  of  man  and 
his  ability  to  adapt  himself  to  almost  any  situation. 

August  10,  1917.  I  went  with  the  American 
minister  to  see  some  English  Tommies  start  for 
home  after  a  long  internment  in  Switzerland. 
They  were  all  typical  wounded  convalescents,  this 
one  lacking  a  leg,  that  one  an  arm,  another  an  eye, 
a  fourth  paralyzed.  There  were  two  affected  pre- 
cisely alike  and  very  strangely.  Through  shell- 
shock  or  otherwise  they  had  been  so  shaken  that 
eveiy  minute  was  agony  unless  both  hands  were 
immersed  in  ice-water.  This  relief  had  been 
worked  out  by  wide  experimentation  in  the  hospital. 
They  were  provided  with  ice  to  last  them  to  Paris. 
Except  for  the  peculiar  nervous  trouble,  both  men 
were  physically  fit. 

An  interesting  chap  who  was  on  the  platform  to 
see  the  soldiers  off  was  a  young  officer  with  one  arm, 
who  is  now  an  interne  in  Bern.  He  was  an  airman, 
and  his  machine  was  brought  down  by  a  German 
avion.  It  fell  two  miles  and  was  shattered  to  bits. 
The  pilot  was  killed  instantly.  The  young  officer 
was  terribly  mangled,  and  his  case  was  regarded  as 


194  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

hopeless,  but  he  got  well,  except  that  his  left  arm 
had  to  be  amputated.  He  is  a  cheery  chap  and  very 
popular  in  Bern  society. 

Minister  Stovall  and  I  walked  away  from  the 
station  toward  the  hotel,  recalling  the  contrast  be- 
tween these  war  days  and  the  time  when  we  last  met 
at  the  Baltimore  convention  in  1912.  A  gentleman 
passed  us  and  saluted  the  minister.  "That  is  a  for- 
mer President  of  Switzerland,"  he  remarked.  Mr. 
Stovall  has  found  the  work  here  interesting  and 
congenial.  He  keeps  in  close  touch  with  his  paper, 
the  "Savannah  Press,"  which,  under  his  ownership 
and  management,  has  become  a  power  in  the  public 
affairs  of  Georgia. 

Mrs.  Stovall,  like  Mrs.  Walter  H.  Page  and  Mrs. 
Sharp,  and  perhaps  others  among  the  wives  of 
American  diplomats  I  have  not  had  the  chance  of 
meeting,  has  fitted  into  the  diplomatic  environment 
most  admirably,  and  is  generally  esteemed. 

Bern,  August  10,  1917.  I  got  some  side-lights 
on  Balkan  internal  affairs  to-day.  Those  who  sym- 
pathize with  Serbia  are  extremely  restless  over  the 
toleration  of  Bulgaria  by  England  and  America. 
It  is  a  curious  thing  that,  while  Serbia  and  Bulgaria 
are  both  Slav  and  have  the  same  religion,  they  hate 
each  other  almost  more  than  any  other  combatants. 
The  Serbs  think  that  it  is  the  greatest  mistake  to 
treat  with  Bulgaria  separately.     They  say  that  in 


IN  SWITZERLAND  195 

sympathy  Bulgaria  is  as  German  as  Bavaria,  that 
she  is  the  Prussia  of  the  Balkans,  and  that,  if  there 
should  be  an  inconclusive  peace,  Bulgaria  would 
organize  trouble  within  a  few  years. 

A  particular  cause  of  irritation  is  the  retention  of 
the  Bulgarian  minister  at  Washington.  He  was 
a  professor  in  Roberts  College  at  Constantinople 
before  the  war,  and  his  retention  and  the  main- 
tenance of  relations  with  Bulgaria  are  referred  here 
to  the  influence  of  Americans  who  are  interested  in 
Roberts  College.  "It  is  a  great  blunder,"  I  am 
told,  "to  keep  the  minister  there  on  the  theory  that 
he  is  a  nice,  friendly,  college  professor.  For  the 
purpose  of  injuring  America  in  every  possible  way 
he  is  a  Bulgarian,  and  Bulgaria  is  Germany,  and 
Germany  is  the  kaiser." 

I  met  to-day  an  old  "singe-cat"  politician  from 
America,  who  had  spent  some  years  in  Germany  in 
an  official  position.  "If  you  figure  on  any  dem- 
ocratization in  Germany  in  time  to  affect  the  de- 
cision of  this  war,  you  will  be  beautifully  left,"  he 
said.  "You  've  got  to  lick  Germany,  or  they  '11  lick 
you.  There  's  no  middle  ground.  This  is  a  fight 
for  a  crown  or  several  crowns,  for  all  the  old  power, 
and  then  some.  The  kaiser  is  gambling  with  other 
people's  money,  and  nothing  will  stop  him  short  of 
spending  it  all  in  this  effort  to  conquer  the  world. 

"The  discussion  of  liberalization  inside  Germany 
is  predicated  on  conditions  that  exist  in  America, 


196  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

England,  and  France.  But  these  conditions  do 
not  exist  in  Germany.  Previous  to  1848  the  Ger- 
mans were  mostly  in  a  state  of  serfdom.  What 
they  have  enjoyed  under  kaiserism  is  so  good  by 
comparison  that  they  are  satisfied.  Germany  is 
a  country  that  in  its  relation  to  its  rulers  can  be 
compared  to  only  two  other  nations  and  races.  As 
Confucius  was  to  China,  as  Moses  was  to  Israel,  so 
is  the  Hohenzollern,  from  Frederick  the  Great 
downwards,  to  Germany. 

"The  trouble  with  long-distance  opinion,"  con- 
tinued my  friend,  "is  that  it  ignores  the  all-impor- 
tant element  of  background,  antecedents,  local  con- 
ditions. We  judge  Prussia,  we  judge  Germany, 
in  terms  of  American  individuality  and  democracy. 
The  Germans  will  stand  for  another  century  the 
political  tyranny  and  abuse  that  our  people  would 
wake  up  to  and  thi'ow  off  in  a  month.  So  go  to 
work  fixing  the  submarines  and  transporting  an 
army;  the  treaty  of  peace  must  be  signed  some- 
where in  the  vicinity  of  BerHn." 

Bern,  August  12,  1917.  The  American  Lega- 
tion at  Bern  is  a  nodal  point.  Every  day  refugees 
are  here  from  some  place  in  the  near  Orient,  making 
their  way  homeward  to  America.  This  morning  I 
saw  a  Jewish  woman  who  was  at  the  head  of  a  party 
of  thirty,  thirteen  women  and  seventeen  children, 
who   were   en   route   from   Jerusalem.     She   was 


IN  SWITZERLAND  197 

American-born,  she  said,  the  wife  of  an  east-side 
rabbi  in  New  York.  She  went  to  Jerusalem  some 
years  ago  to  be  with  her  parents,  who  had  grown 
old  and  needed  her,  but  her  husband  continued  to 
support  her.  Then  her  parents  died.  A  few 
months  ago  a  party  was  made  up  to  flee  from  the 
typhus-cursed  and  poverty-ridden  city  and  go  home 
to  America.  It  had  taken  five  weeks  to  go  from 
Jerusalem  to  Constantinople.  The  party  had  trav- 
eled by  train,  automobile,  horse  cart,  and  on  foot, 
making  their  way  as  best  they  could  and  largely 
by  their  own  wits.  They  had  to  wait  six  weeks  in 
Constantinople,  and  then  came  here  by  a  circuitous 
route.  They  were  traveling  on  funds  furnished  by 
Jewish  charitable  societies.  They  will  sail  from 
Bordeaux  for  New  York. 

I  met  one  of  the  many  refugees  from  Armenia 
who  are  passing  through.  Their  stories  are  too  ter- 
rible to  accept  without  some  authentication.  They 
report  the  most  unthinkable  butchery  of  the  Armen- 
ian population  by  the  Turks.  The  figures  they  give 
are  more  than  seventy  per  cent,  killed  in  the  whole 
population.  The  roads  are  strewn  with  dead  bod- 
ies. On  the  roadsides  the  jackals  from  the  moun- 
tains, grown  tame  by  usage,  are  constantly  busy 
with  the  human  carrion.  Half-crazed,  starving 
women  wander  on  the  highways  without  a  shred  of 
clothing.  The  stories  of  maltreatment  of  women, 
including  refined  girls  at  Christian  colleges  main- 


198  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

tained  by  Americans,  are  really  too  awful  to  be- 
lieve. They  make  German  behavior  in  Belgium 
seem  restrained  by  contrast. 

Still  another  visitor  at  the  legation  had  come  re- 
cently from  Warsaw.  He  brought  reports  of  ap- 
palling conditions.  All  prices  were  so  high  as  to 
be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  poor.  It  was  impossible 
to  buy  clothes  at  all.  The  bread  ration  was  less  than 
half  the  bread  ration  in  Germany.  A  civilian  could 
buy  two  eggs  a  month.  There  was  tremendous 
mortality  among  babies.  Owing  to  the  low  vitality 
of  the  population,  typhus  was  killing  off  the  people 
in  great  numbers.  The  native  population  had 
grown  so  desperate  that  they  got  the  upper  hand 
of  the  Landstiirm  soldiers,  who  had  been  put  over 
them  and  who  themselves  were  but  poorly  fed,  a 
begging  soldier  being  a  not  infrequent  sight.  The 
natives  were  so  rebellious  that  the  German  soldiers 
did  n't  have  the  courage  to  stand  up  to  them  and 
often  suffered  ill-usage  at  their  hands. 

August  13,  1917.  I  fell  in  with  some  Russians 
to-daj^  and  was  much  interested  in  their  discussion 
of  the  situation  in  their  country.  They  are  not  op- 
timistic. They  think  it  will  be  many  a  year  before 
Russia  is  ready  for  a  democratic  government.  At 
present  the  best  results  for  war  could  be  got  out 
of  the  right  kind  of  czar.  Nicholas  was  the  wrong 
kind.     If  you  lack  intelligence  and  enlightened  pa- 


IN  SWITZERLAND  199 

triotism,  then  power  is  the  only  tiling  that  can  hold 
together  many  countries  in  one  country.  The  czar 
had  no  love  of  power.  If  he  had  the  chance  now 
to  be  emperor  he  would  n't  take  any  great  amount 
of  trouble  to  get  back.  If  he  were  very  good  or 
very  bad,  if  he  loved  power,  if  he  had  any  sense  of 
worldly  realities,  he  might  have  saved  Russia.  He 
doubtless  abdicated,  believing  that  it  was  best  for 
his  country,  but  Russians  of  the  type  I  am  quoting 
think  that  he  had  no  right  to  abdicate,  and  that 
by  his  act  he  forfeited  all  claim  on  the  loyalty  of 
his  subjects.  He  had  taken  the  vow  to  reign;  he 
broke  it.  The  czar  represented  in  his  own  personal 
character  the  vice  of  mental  shiftlessness,  which  is 
general  in  the  Russian  bureaucracy.  It  is  related 
that  when  the  Russian  foreign  minister  received 
the  ultimatum  from  Tokio  that  resulted  in  the 
Russo-Japanese  war,  it  was  a  Friday  night.  He 
threw  up  his  hands  in  despair  and  said,  "It  will 
not  be  possible  to  see  his  Majesty  until  next  Tues- 
day, and  that  will  be  too  late!"  Not  that  his 
Majesty  was  attending  to  anything  of  importance, 
but  his  time  was  disposed  of  by  some  sort  of  rou- 
tine, and  the  minister  knew  that  on  no  pretext 
could  the  routine  be  interrupted.  When  finally 
the  czar  could  be  seen  he  rejected  the  idea  of  war 
being  possible.  It  was  many  days  before  he 
could  be  persuaded  that  the  Japanese  war  was  a 
fact. 


200  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

Once  the  governor  of  one  of  the  Russian  prov- 
inces became  entangled  with  the  Petrograd  author- 
ities on  a  matter  of  overwhelming  importance.  He 
couldn't  get  it  settled  in  treaty  with  the  minister 
of  the  department;  so  he  undertook  a  long  trip  to 
the  capital  for  an  audience  with  the  czar.  The  sov- 
ereign received  him  most  pleasantly,  knowing  the 
object  of  his  mission.  But  he  didn't  permit  him 
to  talk  on  the  all- important  subject.  He  knew  that 
it  would  be  necessary  to  send  for  ministers  and  en- 
tertain perplexing  considerations.  So  he  began  an 
animated  conversation  on  other  matters.  How  was 
his  Excellency's  wife?  Was  she  interested  in  Red 
Cross  work?  (The  Red  Cross  was  one  of  the  czar's 
hobbies).  She  was  president  of  the  local  society. 
Ah,  the  empress  would  be  interested!  So  he  sent 
for  her  Majesty,  and  there  was  a  great  to-do  about 
the  Red  Cross  work  in  the  goveraor's  district. 
When  the  time  came  for  bringing  the  interview  to 
an  end,  not  one  word  had  been  permitted  on  the 
governor's  real  errand,  and  he  went  home  with  his 
trouble  on  his  back. 

"How  about  Kerensky?" 

When  I  put  that  question  it  was  like  throwing 
a  ball  of  yarn  among  a  litter  of  kittens.  Finally, 
one  of  the  Russians  got  the  floor  as  against  the 
others;  to  make  sure  of  keeping  it,  he  stood  up 
and,  making  motions  all  the  while  with  his  hands 


IN  SWITZERLAND  201 

like  a  Swiss  bell-ringer,  gave  his  analysis  of  the 
Russian  situation  in  such  a  torrent  of  words  that  it 
was  difficult  to  follow  him. 

He  rated  Kerensky  as  a  shrewd  politician,  but 
lacking  touch  of  genius.  He  said  Kerensky  had 
himself  proposed  in  the  Duma,  two  years  ago,  the 
precise  separate  peace  with  Germany  that  was  now 
so  much  reprobated.  Kerensky  was  so  fettered  by 
party  ties,  which  he  neither  wished,  nor  knew  how, 
to  throw  off,  that  he  would  find  it  impossible  to  con- 
trol the  Russian  situation.  While  he  was  playing 
the  party  game,  that  situation  would  get  away  from 
him.  Kerensky  had  encouraged  the  democratic 
methods  in  the  army  that  now  made  discipline  im- 
possible. He  could  easily  sow  the  seeds  of  insub- 
ordination, but  he  could  n't  put  things  back  where 
they  were  by  threatening  to  shoot  disobedient  sol- 
diers. 

Brusiloff  was  put  out  on  account  of  his  popularity 
and  strength.  They  were  afraid  he  might  be  made 
military  dictator.  Nobody  in  Petrograd  wants  effi- 
ciency against  Germany  enough  to  take  any  chance 
of  a  military  dictatorship.  Korniloff  would  prob- 
ably n,ot  be  Brusiloff's  successor  on  the  terms  he 
had  laid  down,  because  the  power  he  demanded 
would  make  him  dictator.  It  is  exactly  a  dictator- 
ship that  Russia  needs ;  it  would  be  the  road  to  quick 
and  sure  Allied  victory. 

The  big  mistake  of  the  revolution  was  lack  of  a 


202  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

prepared  plan.  You  can't  thi'ow  an  enormous 
country  like  Russia  on  its  resources  over  night. 
The  people  had  been  more  or  less  prepared  on  the 
subject  of  social  revolution,  but  of  political  they 
knew  nothing.  As  soon  as  political  revolution 
leveled  down  whatever  powers  had  been  standing, 
the  social  revolutionists  took  possession  with  their 
big  following  and  semi-matured  ideas.  The  only 
hope  of  Russia's  coming  back  and  presenting  a  solid 
front  on  the  side  of  the  Allies  is  in  a  military  dic- 
tatorship. 

That  was  the  last  word. 

August  12,  1917.  I  met  a  real  democrat  from 
Germany  to-day.  He  had  n't  been  there  very 
recently;  perhaps  his  "room  is  better  than  his  com- 
pany" in  the  kaiser's  bailiwick.  But  he  is  very  in- 
telligent and  has  a  large  acquaintance  in  Germany 
with  whom  he  is  in  constant  correspondence.  He 
is  a  zealous  worker  for  the  adoption  of  democratic 
ideas  on  American  lines.  I  inferred  that  while  his 
mind  had  been  tending  in  that  direction  for  some 
time,  his  actual  conversion  had  been  brought  about 
by  President  Wilson's  state  papers. 

The  late  cabinet  crisis  contained  no  comfort  for 
this  democrat.  It  was  true  that  there  had  been 
some  growth  of  liberal  thought  in  Germany  since 
the  war,  but  it  was  not  strong  enough  to  defy  or 
even  to  disregard  the  kaiser,  representing,  as  he  did, 


IN  SWITZERLAND  203 

the  tradition  and  fact  of  royal  power  and  the  mil- 
itary system. 

The  people  are  stirring  more  or  less  for  dem- 
ocratization. Their  thought  gives  the  impulse  to 
the  Reichstag.  But  public  opinion  as  a  force  is 
not  yet  rooted.  The  initiative  comes  from  the  peo- 
ple, but  the  militarists  override  it.  A  half -formed 
public  opinion  proposes:  a  highly  organized,  thor- 
oughly intrenched  kaiserism  disposes.  That  was 
the  formula  for  the  recent  action  of  the  Reichstag 
and  the  sequel. 

The  kaiser  is  a  neurasthenic.  He  changes  from 
week  to  week.  At  times  he  is  something  of  a  dem- 
ocrat himself.  He  is  worked  upon  by  war  con- 
ditions and  by  personal  influence.  Russia's  break- 
down has  withered  his  budding  faith  in  democracy 
and  driven  him  back  to  the  old  real  thing. 

"The  devil  was  sick,  the  devil  a  monk  would  be. 
The  devil  was  well,  the  devil  a  monk  was  he." 

The  people  of  Germany  are  strong  when  they 
serve  the  kaiser,  but  grow  weak  against  him.  They 
are  yoke-oxen.  The  very  discipline  that  cements 
them  prevents  the  development  of  initiative  and  de- 
pendence. But  the  present  informant  sees  better 
things  in  the  future.  Even  the  Germans  can't 
stand  everything.  They  will  be  aroused  against 
the  tyranny  over  them  either  in  case  of  military  de- 


204  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

feat  or  in  the  continuance  of,  or  further  decline  in, 
economic  and  food  conditions. 

This  man  thought  that  Sweden  and  Bessarabia 
would  be  decisive  as  to  food  supplies.  The  Pres- 
ident should  carry  out  the  most  drastic  measures  in 
respect  to  Sweden.  From  that  country  such  quan- 
tities of  material  for  munitions  and  food  supplies 
have  come  into  Germany  that  people  have  wondered 
how  Sweden  had  gathered  it  and  transported  it. 
It  was  thought  possible  that  the  German  Navy  had 
helped  in  the  transport  from  Sweden. 

Germany  was  now  making  a  drive  on  the  eastern 
front  for  Bessarabia.  The  present  crop  of  grain 
in  that  rich  agi'icultural  country  would  help  enor- 
mously, but  even  if  it  were  necessary  to  wait  until 
next  harvest,  the  possession  of  Bessarabia  would 
encourage  Germany.  The  people  are  quick  to  take 
heart,  and  hope  goes  ahnost  as  far  as  actual  food. 

My  informant  thought  that  Germany  could  hold 
together  until  late  winter,  but  if  by  that  time 
Sweden  and  Bessarabia  should  be  out  of  hand,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  control  the  people  longer,  and 
revolt  in  some  tangible  form  would  follow. 

The  lack  of  information  in  Germany  and  the  blind 
acceptance  of  authority  by  an  intelligent  community 
was  attributed  in  part  to  press  control.  Tlie  repre- 
sentatives of  the  military,  naval,  and  civil  power  sit 
together  in  daily  conference  and  adopt  policies  for 
the  press.     Even  a  great  journal  like  the  "Frank- 


IN  SWITZERLAND  205 

furter  Zeitung"  is  obliged  to  submit  to  this  brutal 
dictation. 

The  press,  on  orders,  prints  next  to  nothing  about 
America.  That  situation  receives  the  silent  treat- 
ment. The  people  would  be  influenced  by  America, 
owing  to  the  bonds  of  kinship  between  the  two  coun- 
tries, but  they  get  nothing  but  a  few  half-truths. 

A  sample  of  the  kind  of  misleading  news  that  is 
put  out  and  accepted  by  German  people  is  the  fic- 
tion that  America  is  in  a  state  of  mental  servitude  to 
England.  They  firmly  believe  that  America  was 
captured  by  an  extensive  scheme  of  English  propa- 
ganda antedating  the  war.  The  publication  of  ex- 
tracts from  Bernhardi's  book  by  several  American 
newspapers  early  in  1914  is  cited  as  conclusive  proof 
of  the  English  propaganda. 

The  tenacity  with  v/hich  Germans  hold  to  the 
utterly  absurd  belief  in  the  mental  subjection  of 
America  by  perfidious  Albion  recalls  a  not  dissimilar 
obsession  in  England  that  Count  von  Bernstorff 
had  America  in  hand  at  one  stage  of  the  game.  Of 
course  poor  Bernstorff  never  had  a  particle  of  real 
pull  anywhere  in  America  at  any  time.  He  did  n't 
even  always  receive  his  "cash  on  delivery"  purchases. 
It  was  German  propagandism,  a  thing  discarded 
off-hand  by  the  rebelliously  free  mind  of  America, 
that  impaired  Germany's  standing  at  the  bar  of 
American  opinion  from  the  very  first.  Her  case 
was  really  never  considered  on  its  merits,  for  it  had 


206  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

none  after  Belgium  and  the  Lusitania.  American 
perception  was  quick  to  grasp  this. 

My  informant  brought  a  report  that  will  be  es- 
pecially interesting  in  America.  It  was  to  the 
effect  that  Count  von  Bernstorff  was  giving  real  ad- 
vice and  information  in  regard  to  America,  and  that 
he  was  himself  showing  distinct  leanings  toward 
democracy.  Stranger  things  have  happened  than 
Bernstorff  holding  a  seat  in  a  German  Liberal  min- 
istry. He  knows  America,  if  they  will  but  en- 
courage him  to  bring  his  knowledge  to  bear  in  the 
councils  in  Berlin. 

The  trouble  is  that  the  kaiser,  like  most  of  the 
breed  of  autocrats  and  tyrants,  listens  only  to  those 
who  tell  him  what  he  wishes  to  hear.  No  minister 
can  get  along  with  him  without  sacrificing  his  own 
principles  and  convictions.  Hindenburg  and  Lu- 
dendorff  are  not  so  subservient,  but  they  are  war 
chiefs  and  cannot  be  replaced.  These  two  are  said 
to  give  the  kaiser  when  he  is  at  the  front  an  hour  a 
day,  and  no  more,  for  advice  and  consultation. 
That  hour  finished,  the  two  generals  leave  on  the 
dot,  declining  always,  on  the  score  of  military  duty, 
to  accept  royal  hospitality,  which  would  tend  fur- 
ther to  open  militaiy  matters  to  what  they  regard 
as  lay  discussion. 

The  opinion  was  expressed  that  if  anything 
should  happen  to  the  kaiser,  the  crown  prince  would 
never  be  allowed  to  take  his  place  as  absolute  mon- 


IN  SWITZERLAND  207 

arch.  There  is  enough  "kick"  in  German  liberalism 
for  that.  Moreover,  the  kaiser's  policy,  ending  in 
tliis  great  war,  has  fully  capitalized  for  himself  all 
the  loyalty  to  dynasty  that  there  is  in  Germany, 
every  drop  of  it. 

The  liberalism  that  must  lie  at  the  bottom  of  the 
working  German's  unwillingness  to  delegate  to  a 
single  person  future  power  to  plunge  him  into  war 
ruin,  the  liberalism  of  kinship  and  sympathy  with 
the  world,  the  liberalism  of  right  thinking  and  right 
feeling  of  wliich  even  war  brutality  has  not  ex- 
tirpated the  roots,  the  liberalism  of  love  of  family, 
pleasant  routine,  music,  friendly  conversation,  and 
quiet  things — this  is  the  liberalism  that  my  in- 
formant hopes  for  in  Germany,  whether  now  or 
later,  whenever  final  doom  shall  be  pronounced  upon 
the  tyranny  that  now  stalks  over  the  land. 

"He  that  leadeth  into  captivity  shall  go  into  cap- 
tivity :  he  that  killeth  with  the  sword  must  be  killed 
with  the  sword." 

Bern.  This  is  the  city  of  the  bear.  Bruin  is 
everywhere,  on  the  monuments  and  gate-posts,  in 
coats  of  arms  and  trademarks,  and  most  real  of  all, 
in  the  bear  den  maintained  from  time  immemorial 
by  the  municipality  of  Bern. 

Napoleon  took  the  Bern  bears  to  Paris.  When 
peace  came,  the  Bernese  clamored  loud  to  have 
their  bears  returned,  and  the  treaty  so  provided. 
These  bears  of  the  Bern  bear-pit  are  a  royal  family, 


208  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

and  can  trace  their  ancestry  back  for  centuries. 

It  is  a  sort  of  relief  to  turn  in  these  war  times 
to  a  less  ciTjel  wild  animal  than  man,  and  fall  down 
in  bear  worship.  Really,  there  is  something  kind 
in  bruin's  face  as  he  opens  his  mouth  in  what  might 
pass  for  a  smile,  taking  short  breaths,  with  his  red 
tongue  hanging  over  his  lower  lip.  At  least  there 
is  no  such  expression  as  might  be  on  the  face  of  an 
aforetime  gentle  youth  as  he  plunges  his  bayonet 
into  the  breast  of  an  equally  gentle  youth  differently 
uniformed. 

I  paid  a  visit  to  the  bears'  den,  going  down  to 
the  river  level  and  walking  from  the  upper  to  the 
middle  bridge  amid  old  architecture  that  appealed 
as  no  new  architecture  does  or  can.  Why  is  it  that 
just  across  the  river,  in  the  new  and  fashionable 
quarter  where  the  legations  are  located,  there  should 
be  such  hideously  suburban  architecture  and  land- 
scaping, when  the  most  beautiful  models  in  the 
world  utter  a  wordless,  but  righteous,  protest  a  few 
hundred  j^ards  away? 

AVhen  I  spoke  of  my  visit  to  the  bear-pit  this 
afternoon,  a  lady  recited  the  story  that  has  become 
a  tradition  in  Bern,  but  is  historically  accurate. 
She  told  it  well,  and  it  was  much  more  stirring  than 
the  story  of  the  horrible  butchery  by  which  thou- 
sands had  lost  their  lives  in  Flanders  only  the  day 
before.  So  cruelly  does  usage  blunt  the  human 
feelings ! 


IN  SWITZERLAND  209 

On  a  night  many  years  ago  one  of  the  secretaries 
of  the  British  legation,  with  a  colleague  from 
another  legation,  stopped  at  the  bear's  den.  It  was 
about  midnight.  They  had  been  out  to  dinner  and 
were  much  mider  the  influence  of  wine.  The 
Englishman  in  a  sporting  spirit  vaulted  over  the 
iron  rail  at  the  top  and  then  back  several  times. 
The  last  time  he  was  tripped  by  his  cane,  which 
he  held  in  his  hand,  and  fell  twenty  feet  to  the 
bottom  of  the  pit.  He  was  not  hurt  by  the  fall, 
and  the  pit  was  empty,  for  the  bears  had  gone  into 
their  sleeping  cellars. 

Neither  diplomat  was  much  alarmed  after  it  was 
found  that  the  Englishman  was  n't  injured  by  his 
fall.  He  was  sobered,  and  cautioned  the  other  not 
to  make  too  much  noise  while  he  explored  the  place 
to  see  whether  he  could  climb  out.  Some  time  was 
spent  in  this  hunt,  which  was  without  result;  but 
there  was  still  no  sign  from  the  sleeping  bears. 

The  colleague  then  went  off  to  find  a  rope  or  a 
ladder.  At  the  end  of  half  an  horn-  he  came  back 
empty-handed,  but  with  three  or  four  other  men, 
and  ways  and  means  were  discussed,  without  any 
decision  being  reached.  The  Englishman,  mean- 
time, was  sober  as  a  judge,  but  his  colleague  was 
intoxicated  and  excited.  It  was  now  after  one 
o'clock  and  the  bears  were  apparently  still  asleep. 
The  men  went  off  on  another  hmit  for  ropes  and 
ladders.     They  were  gone  a  long  time,  knocking  at 


210  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

doors  and  searching  fruitlessly.  The  leader  was 
now  in  a  panic,  and  his  own  mental  paralysis  seemed 
to  spread  to  all  whom  he  met.  He  finally  returned, 
bringing  with  him  a  crowd  of  helpless  people,  in- 
cluding a  policeman. 

Despite  warnings  from  the  Englishman,  the 
crowd  made  a  great  noise,  which  waked  up  the  bears, 
and  they  began  to  appear  from  their  sleeping-quar- 
ters. They  gathered  around  the  Englishman  with 
curiosity,  but  at  first  without  evil  design,  smelling 
at  him  and  yawning.  The  crowd  kept  on  shouting, 
one  suggesting  one  thing  and  another  something 
else.  There  was  running  and  cursing,  but  there 
was  no  Jim  Bludsoe  to  yell  out  what  should  be 
done. 

By  three  o'clock  the  bears  grew  more  and  more 
restless,  and  their  behavior  less  and  less  friendly. 
Some  one  suggested  that  a  coat  be  torn  into  strips, 
tied  together,  and  used  as  a  rope.  It  was  done. 
The  Englishman  was  pulled  half-way  up ;  the  rope 
broke,  and  he  fell  back. 

The  bears  now  began  to  show  signs  of  ugly  tem- 
per. They  were  walking  rapidly  to  and  fro,  ap- 
proaching the  Englishman,  putting  a  paw  on  his 
shoulder,  smelling  at  him  longer  at  a  time.  It  was 
suggested  that  the  policeman  use  his  pistol.  He  re- 
plied that  it  was  useless,  as  the  bears  would  not 
attack  a  man. 

Meanwhile  another  rope  of  coat  strips  was  made. 


IN  SWITZERLAND  211 

The  Englishman  grasped  it,  and  the  crowd  began 
pulhng  him  up.  When  his  feet  were  a  few  inches 
from  the  bottom,  one  of  the  bears  staggered  up  to 
him,  and  struck  him  with  his  paw  in  the  small  of 
the  back.  The  rope  parted,  and  he  fell,  his  spine 
crushed  by  the  blow.  The  bears  fell  on  him  and 
literally  devoured  the  dead  body.  Then  the  police- 
man shot  the  bear  that  struck  the  deadly  blow. 

I  saw  the  swaying  shoulders  and  the  paunch's  swag  and  swing, 
And  my  heart  was  touched  with  pity  for  the  monstrous  plead- 
ing thing. 

Nearer  and  nearer  he  staggered  with  paws  like  hands  that 

pray, 
From  brow  to  jaw  that  steel-shod  paw,  it  ripped  my  face  away. 

A  model  city  is  this  city  of  the  bears,  the  capital 
of  the  mother  republic,  a  republic  founded  two  hun- 
dred years  before  Columbus  discovered  America. 
A  lady  in  one  of  the  legations  raised  her  hands  in 
despair  at  the  stupidity  of  the  Swiss.  You  go  into 
a  shop,  she  declared,  and  ask  for  something.  A 
man  ambles  off,  comes  back  empty-handed,  stares 
stupidly  into  your  eyes,  goes  away,  misunderstands 
again.  What  is  it  that  gives  such  a  wonderful 
product  from  a  people  individually  dull,  if  dull  they 
are?  I  turned  from  the  lady  to  the  young  son  of 
Minister  Stovall  and  asked  him  the  question. 

"I  don't  admit  that  they  are  dull,"  he  said,  as  a 


212  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

diplomat's  son  should.  "What  they  do  is  well  done 
because  their  tasks  are  limited  and  definite,  and  they 
have  only  to  understand  to  be  faithful." 

I  could  see  for  myself  that  there  was  discipline. 
There  are  no  unruly  children  running  about  From 
my  window,  which  also  commands  a  view  of  the 
Jungfrau  and  the  Oberland,  I  can  see  three  or  four 
playgrounds  on  the  banks  of  the  Aar.  In  the  af- 
ternoons these  spaces  are  always  alive  with  young- 
sters. Their  plaj^  is  well  ordered.  They  run, 
jump,  throw  the  discus,  pole-vault,  and  swim  and 
dive  in  the  river.  It  is  real  play,  but  it  is  orderly. 
All  are  in  good  earnest  about  it.  The  play  does  n't 
degenerate  into  horse-play. 

In  our  America  it  would  be  almost  impossible 
to  maintain  these  playgrounds  except  under  the  se- 
verest supervision.  They  would  be  picked  to 
pieces,  strewn  with  litter,  and  the  earnest  work  of 
athletics  turned  into  some  sort  of  buffoonery. 
Here  the  play  goes  on,  apparently  without  super- 
intendence, right  up  to  dark. 

The  arrangement  of  this  little  city,  the  squares 
and  public  buildings,  the  municipal  housekeeping, 
are  a  model  of  painstaking  and  good  taste.  The 
wonderful  river  combines  utility  and  beauty.  It 
twists  and  turns  in  its  course  through  the  town, 
making  landscaping  opportunities  that  have  been 
taken  advantage  of.  After  it  reaches  the  outside 
of  the  city  it  pursues  its  swift  course  a  mile,  theo 


IN  SWITZERLAND  213 

bends  sharply,  and  comes  back  to  within  three  hun- 
dred yards.  The  thrifty  Bernese  have  made  a 
tmmel  from  bend  to  bend  with  forty  feet  of  fall, 
and  here  the  city  gets  its  supply  of  electric  power. 

The  water  for  drinking  comes  from  the  moun- 
tains, and,  though  analysis  shows  chemical  purity, 
it  is  under  suspicion  of  bringing  the  disease  of 
goitre,  v/hich  is  almost  a  curse  in  Sv/itzerland. 

I  wish  that  there  might  be  systematized  study  of 
Swiss  cities  by  Americans,  and  that  we  might  apply 
some  of  their  good  ways.  Everj^thing  moves 
quietly.  There  is  no  hurry,  but  there  is  no  tar- 
diness. It  is  the  rarest  thing  for  a  street-car  to  be 
behind  time.  And,  by  the  way,  there  is  one  obvious 
suggestion  from  their  street-car  methods.  We  have 
too  many  stops.  Every  other  corner  would  be  quite 
enough. 

August  17, 1917.  It  is  believed  in  many  quarters 
in  Switzerland  that  Ilerr  Erzberger,  through  whose 
initiative  the  four-party  coalition  was  formed  in  the 
Reichstag  for  the  passage  of  the  peace  resolution 
that  brought  on  the  political  crisis  of  July  has  car- 
ried, perhaps  in  unison  with  Austria,  his  irrepres- 
sible activities  to  the  Vatican,  and  has  brought  forth 
the  new  proposal  for  which  the  pope  is  sponsor. 

It  is  the  Center,  or  Catholic,  Party  in  Germany, 
controlHng  ninety-one  votes  in  the  Reichstag,  which 
has   lately    constituted   itself,    under    Erzberger's 


214  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

leadership,  the  special  spokesman  of  peace  yearn- 
ings. Erzberger  engineered  the  coalition  of  Cen- 
trists, Socialists,  Progressives,  and  National  Lib- 
erals that  upset  the  Bethmann-Hollweg  Govern- 
ment, and  despite  the  fact  that  his  movement  struck 
the  rock  of  military  opposition,  he  has  continued  to 
proclaim  his  purpose  to  work  for  peace  in  every  pos- 
sible direction. 

For  weeks  the  movement  with  which  Erzberger's 
name  was  identified  has  been  discussed  in  a  specu- 
lative manner  in  Switzerland,  with  divergent 
opinion  as  to  whether  it  sprang  from  sincere  motives 
or  was  part  of  the  German  game.  It  is  only  pos- 
sible to  average  opinion  as  to  inside  conditions  in 
Germany.  There  is  an  irreconcilable  conflict  of 
testimony,  and  every  statement  contains  a  mixture 
of  a  certain  proportion  of  truth,  which  inevitably 
filters  through  with  the  propaganda  spread  by 
German  agents,  the  counter-propaganda  by  allied 
agents,  and  exaggeration  by  repetition. 

Underneath  every  proposal  for  peace,  however 
impossible  from  the  Allies'  point  of  view,  there  is 
always  the  popular  wistfulness  to  see  the  war  ended. 

This  desire  grows  stronger  with  adversity  and 
weaker  with  success,  but  when  you  get  to  details, 
the  Germans  shrink  from  conditions  such  as  in- 
demnity, which  they  regard  as  a  plea  of  guilty  to 
the  felony  of  starting  a  wicked  and  murderous  war. 

In  the  general  sentiment  for  peace  the  civilian 


IN  SWITZERLAND  215 

element  has  been  reinforced  by  the  discontent  and 
the  progress  of  the  democratization  idea  in  the 
army.  Soldiers  obey  their  officers  and  still  fight 
well,  but  men  who  go  home  after  peace  will  never 
consent  to  live  under  an  autocracy  that  can 
capriciously  involve  their  country  in  war. 

Of  this  sentiment  in  the  army  the  generals  and 
the  kaiser  are  well  aware,  and  like  the  civilian  un- 
rest, it  gives  them  constant  solicitude.  Even  in 
Switzerland  one  meets  few  persons  who  claim  that 
the  autocracy  will  last  beyond  the  present  kaiser. 

Out  of  these  conditions  the  demand  for  peace 
arises  in  varying  forms  and  degrees  of  intensity. 
The  Catholics  who  under  Erzberger's  leadership 
organized  the  July  revolt  would  naturally  give  their 
support  to  the  latest  peace  initiative  from  the 
Vatican. 

In  Germany  the  government  policy  exactly  re- 
verses that  of  England.  The  German  theory  is 
that  the  Government  can  prevent  the  weakness  and 
panic  that  the  sudden  suggestion  of  peace  might 
produce  by  keeping  that  topic  constantly  under  dis- 
cussion. This  is  the  pet  policy  of  the  Catholic 
party  the  leader  of  which,  Erzberger,  advertises 
that  he  is  always  ready  to  meet  any  advocate  of 
peace  from  any  belligerent  Government,  in  Swit- 
zerland any  day,  and  collaborate  for  peace  on  terms 
fair  to  both  sides. 

The  British  and  American  governments  take  the 


216  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

contrary  stand,  and  advocates  of  peace  are  re- 
garded as  playing  Germany's  game.  This  indi- 
cates that  despite  the  claims  for  German  discipline, 
that  country  is  less  able  to  hold  its  people  to  war 
sacrifice  than  are  the  Allies,  but  it  also  indicates 
that  the  Allied  peoples  are  taught  to  regard  the 
initiation  of  peace  discussion  as  an  unmistakable 
weakening,  w^hereas  the  Germans  can  shout  peace 
on  every  street  corner  without  suffering  a  loss  of 
morale  themselves  or  encouraging  their  enemies. 

After  spending  ten  days  m  Switzerland  and  talk- 
ing with  all  kinds  of  people,  I  believe  that  it  is  vain 
to  hope  for  a  popular  upheaval  in  Germany  before 
the  war  ends.  Germany  is  held  in  the  vice  of  dis- 
ciphne.  Fear  is  the  chief  element  in  its  loyalty; 
but  while  the  people  stand  in  awe  of  the  autocracy, 
the  autocracy  also  fears  the  people.  It  may  not  be 
possible,  owing  to  long-established  mental  disci- 
pline, for  the  people  to  develop  and  enforce  an  en- 
lightened and  matured  public  opinion,  but  waves 
of  emotion  are  continually  sweeping  over  Germany, 
and  sharply  react  on  the  Reichstag  and  the  powers 
behind  the  throne. 

Hindenburg  and  Ludendorff,  to  whom  are  now 
delegated  the  powers  of  the  autocracy,  though  in 
what  proportion  as  between  the  two  is  not  precisely 
known,  came  together  from  the  front  and  assumed 
personal,  direct  control  of  the  situation  during  the 
political    crisis    in    July,    Their    authority    was 


IN  SWITZERLAND  217 

recognized  on  all  hands.  Even  the  four-party 
coalition,  which  in  the  Reichstag  had  a  majority  for 
the  peace  resolution  of  more  than  a  hundred,  a  body 
that  derives  considerable  power  from  its  control  of 
money  credits,  modified  its  plans  in  conformity  with 
the  dictation  of  Hindenburg  and  Ludendorff.  It 
was  they  who  chose  Michaelis  and  indicated  the 
program  he  should  outline,  and  it  is  they  who  will 
decide  what  program  he  shall  actually  carry  out 
when  the  Reichstag  reassembles. 

In  the  tripartite  distribution  of  power,  by  far  the 
greater  part  resides  in  the  autocracy,  of  which  the 
kaiser  is  temporarily  the  figurehead.  On  the  op- 
posite side  are  the  people,  with  the  Reichstag  in  the 
middle  furnishing  a  connecting-link. 

The  July  crisis  was  produced  by  popular  unrest, 
of  which  the  chief  immediate  cause  is  said  to  have 
been  the  landing  of  American  troops  in  France 
when  the  food  scarcity  was  at  its  worst.  This 
thoroughly  alarmed  the  military  party.  The  popu- 
lar demand  for  peace  and  political  reform  came  to 
the  Reichstag  with  an  impact  that  momentarily 
transferred  the  balance  of  control  by  which  that 
body  is  normally  held.  The  adoption  of  the  peace 
resolution  was  the  result. 

The  strong-handed  intervention  of  Hindenburg 
and  Ludendorff  was  favored  by  events  in  Russia 
during  subsequent  weeks,  and  also  by  using  through 
the  press  submarine  statistics,  which  had  apparently 


218  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

been  held  in  reserve  until  the  disappointment  due 
to  the  failure  of  the  Government's  promises  when 
submarine  frightfulness  started  last  February  had 
subsided.  The  German  press  pointed  out  that 
while  England  had  not  yet  been  reduced,  as 
promised,  by  the  U-boat  campaign,  the  destruction 
of  tonnage  would  yet  accomplish  that  result  and, 
what  was  even  more  certain,  would  render  impos- 
sible the  transport  and  supply  of  American 
soldiers  in  sufficient  measure  to  affect  the  result 
of  the  war. 

As  the  news  from  Russia  has  become  less  favor- 
able for  Germany,  the  press  and  propaganda  have 
emphasized  submarine  warfare  as  the  offensive 
against  which  the  Allies  are  helpless,  the  silent  and 
invisible  blows  of  which  are  winning  the  war  for 
Germany. 

August  31,  1917.  A  reading  of  Mr.  Hoover's 
clear  and  forcible  appeal  to  the  public,  printed  in 
"The  Times"  of  August  11, 1917,  moves  me  to  call 
the  attention  of  America  to  the  example  of  Switzer- 
land. In  that  country,  more  even  than  in  France 
or  England,  there  exists  a  plan  carefully  worked 
out  by  the  authorities,  and  scrupulously  put  into 
effect  by  the  people,  for  the  conservation  of  food. 
There  are  so  many  things  in  the  world  to  shake 
democratic  faith  that  it  is  comforting  to  see  the  pos- 
sibilities  of   reverence,   order,   and   obedience   to 


IN  SWITZERLAND  219 

authority  under  a  republic  so  fully  demonstrated 
as  in  the  mother  republic  of  Switzerland. 

It  is  possible  that  what  has  been  needed  in 
America  was  an  emergency  under  such  leadersliip 
as  Mr.  Hoover's,  and  that  our  hitherto  self-in- 
dulgent public  will  come  out  of  their  experience 
with  disciplined  hearts. 

The  regulations  in  Switzerland  are  not  extreme, 
but  they  are  thorough  and  are  rigidl}^  enforced,  or, 
to  put  it  more  justly,  are  lived  up  to.  The  people 
have  confidence  in  the  wisdom  of  the  plan  and  the 
impartiality  of  its  administration,  and  they  there- 
fore make  enforcement  unnecessary  by  general, 
voluntary  compliance. 

People  in  France  will  in  many  cases  beat  the  law 
by  laying  in  big  stocks  on  the  market-day  preceding 
the  meatless  days.  This  in  Paris  is  not  considered 
reprehensible,  but  in  Switzerland  it  would  be  most 
severely  reprobated  by  public  sentiment,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  legal  consequences.  For  example, 
in  Bern  even  the  household  of  the  American  minis- 
ter is  on  rations.  On  the  fiirst  of  each  month  Mrs. 
Stovall  receives  a  card  to  fill  in,  stating  the  probable 
needs  for  that  month.  She  sets  down  the  quanti- 
ties of  the  meats  and  vegetables  that  count,  and 
sends  the  card  back.  The  authorities  then  return 
the  estimated  allowance  as  approved  by  them. 

This  is  not  accounted  a  hardship  by  any  one. 
On  the  contrary,  there  is  general  agreement  that  the 


220  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

method  is  necessary,  orderly,  fair,  and  in  the  public 
interest. 

There  are  not  only  laws  against  profiteering,  but 
public  opinion  is  so  alert  on  this  subject  that  no 
market  vender  would  dare  attempt  extortion.  In 
the  few  cases  where  it  has  been  attempted  indignant 
women  marketers  have  upset  stalls  and  scattered 
their  contents  in  the  street. 

The  attitude  of  the  people  toward  food  and 
marketing  interested  me  greatly.  Marketing  is  a 
kind  of  sacred  rite.  Food  is  handled  with  caressing 
and  cherishing  care.  In  the  morning  hours  the 
street-cars  are  virtually  given  over  to  the  market- 
ers, who  carry  their  prizes  in  neat,  small  baskets 
and  string  bags. 

It  is  astonishing  how  quickly  a  new-comer  falls 
into  the  prevalent  idea.  I  found  myself  soon  tak- 
ing the  Swiss  view  of  the  preciousness  of  food. 
And  what  a  wonderful  flavor  is  imparted  by  a  little 
stint!  Like  many  other  Americans,  I  like  my 
breakfast  best,  and  make  it  the  chief  meal.  A 
favorite  breakfast  consist  of  fruit,  bacon,  coffee, 
bread,  and  plenty  of  butter  and  sugar.  In  Swit- 
zerland oranges  are  plentiful  from  Italy,  so  one  is 
not  limited  there,  though  the  price  is  high.  But  of 
bacon  I  could  have  only  three  very  small  bits;  of 
butter,  three  slivers,  equal  to  about  one  ordinary 
piece ;  and  of  sugar,  one  piece  broken  in  the  middle 


IN  SWITZERLAND  221 

to  look  like  two.  The  bread  allowance  was  equal 
to  about  two  rolls.  This  is  enough  breakfast  for 
anybody,  and  it  was  all  anybody  could  get.  And  it 
was  simply  delicious. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

A   CORNER   OF   ALSACE   RECONQUERED 

July,  1917.  The  minister  of  war  had  elected  that 
we  should  see  a  portion  of  that  Alsace  which  French 
arms  had  reconquered.  I  was  the  first  American, 
as  it  happened,  to  appear  in  Alsace  since  our 
country  had  come  into  the  war.  I  was  a  little  em- 
barrassed to  find  that  word  of  the  visit  had  pre- 
ceded me  and  that  it  was  to  be  taken  somewhat 
seriously  as  a  mile-stone.  I  soon  saw,  however, 
that  nobody  could  be  embarrassed  long,  but  only 
pleased  and  delighted  by  the  gay  and  charming 
hospitality  of  Alsace. 

Our  route  lay  over  the  famous  Vosges  Moun- 
tains. Shortly  after  we  had  passed  the  crest, 
which  here  is  only  about  eleven  hundi'ed  feet 
above  sea-level,  our  officer  announced  that  we  were 
now  in  Alsace,  and  there  opened  before  us  the  lovely 
valley  of  the  Doller.  In  a  few  minutes  we  were  in 
the  village  of  Sewen  (pronounced  Sayven),  which 
is  garrisoned  largely  by  Senegalese.  They  greatly 
interest  a  Southerner  raised  among  and  by  darkies. 
It  never  loses  its  strangeness  to  me  that  these 
Africans  are  unable  to  talk  or  understand  Ameri- 
can. 

222 


ALSACE  RECONQUERED  223 

A  big  buck  was  cooking  supper  out  on  the  road- 
side, and  we  watched  him  with  an  interest  that  was 
augmented  by  our  guide's  conversation  with  him  in 
a  patois  understood  by  both.  He  was  making  a 
kind  of  burgoo  of  rice  and  horse-meat  in  an  im- 
mense vessel  about  the  size  of  a  stereotype  metal 
pot,  from  which  issued  a  most  appetizing  smell. 
His  tribesmen  eschew  pork,  but  when  taxed  with 
slipping  some  quantities  of  hog-meat  surreptitiously 
into  the  stew,  old  Mose,  as  he  might  have  been 
called  on  form,  grinningly  admitted  the  charge. 
His  nose  spread  almost  across  his  face,  which  was 
pock-marked;  humor  laughed  in  his  eyes  and  ex- 
panded his  lips.  He  was  one  of  those  negroes 
whom  an  experienced  Southerner  would  at  once 
pronounce  as  having  "a  heap  of  sense." 

When  I  showed  interest  in  the  black  men,  several 
of  them  were  called  up,  and  we  tried  to  induce  them 
to  carry  on  conversation  in  their  native  tongue,  with 
only  indifferent  success,  owing  to  their  timidity. 
Their  faces  are  scarred  in  infancy  by  lines  indicat- 
ing tribal  affiliation.  They  carry  a  kind  of  cutlass 
that  might  have  been  old-fashioned  three  years  ago, 
but  which  has  become  most  useful  in  trench  war- 
fare. 

We  went  up  the  D  oiler  a  mile  or  two  to  see  a 
dam  built  by  the  Germans  in  1884-87  and  which 
supplies  water-power  to  a  portion  of  the  valley. 
We  had  an  entrancing  view  from  this  dam,  one  of 


224  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

many  permitted  us  during  our  visit.  It  was  diffi- 
cult to  realize  amid  such  peaceful  scenes  that  a  hor- 
rible war  was  going  on  within  a  few  miles.  In  the 
valley  of  the  Doller  as  elsewhere  in  that  part  of 
Alsace  now  in  French  hands  the  crops,  particu- 
larly potatoes  and  hay,  are  unusually  fine,  and  the 
impression  from  any  vantage-point  is  one  of 
prosperity  and  plenty. 

In  the  late  afternoon  we  drove  down  the  valley 
in  the  direction  of  the  Rhine  to  Massevaux,  where 
we  were  to  put  up.  It  is  a  beautiful  town,  with  a 
population  of  several  thousand.  It  has  enjoyed 
prosperity  from  cotton  and  leather  manufacture, 
and  so  far  the  Boche  has  spared  it,  contenting  him- 
self with  an  almost  daily  air-plane  visit,  perhaps 
by  way  of  warning.  The  church  has  an  organ 
which  the  inhabitants  compare  favorably  with  the 
famous  one  in  the  Strasburg  Cathedral.  They  had 
arranged  a  recital  in  our  honor  in  order  to  show 
its  quality,  but  the  time  proved  too  short. 

We  drove  to  headquarters,  over  which  floated 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  along  with  the  French  flag, 
to  pay  our  respects  to  the  commandant,  and  found 
that  he  was  to  give  us  a  dinner  in  the  evening.  In 
the  meantime  we  were  conducted  not  to  the 
excellent  hotel,  but  to  private  houses.  My  friend 
went  off  to  a  house  near  the  main  street,  while  a 
captain  took  me  to  a  fine  old  mansion  in  the  square 
and  introduced  me  to  my  hostess. 


ALSACE  RECONQUERED  225 

When  I  met  my  colleague  later  I  said,  "No 
matter  how  charmingly  you  are  located,  I  am  more 
so."  But  he  stood  up  stoutly  for  his  own  host. 
My  hostess  was  the  youngest  of  four  sisters  left  re- 
maining of  a  prominent  Alsatian  family.  The 
parents  had  died  since  the  war;  the  only  son  was 
killed  in  Champagne.  The  three  elder  sisters  were 
conducting  a  hospital  in  Belfort.  My  hostess  kept 
her  house  open  for  French  officers  and  soldiers. 
At  one  time  thirty  or  forty  were  accommodated 
there,  but  the  number  was  now  reduced  to  six  or 

eight. 

From  my  hostess  I  heard  the  strongest  plea  for 
restoring  Alsace  and  Lorraine  that  I  had  ever  heard 
anywhere.     She  had  only  a  small  vocabulary  of 
broken  English,  but  she  used  it  with  a  convincing 
eloquence.     It  was   as  if   I   embodied  the  whole 
United  States,  which  had  come  to  rescue  Alsace  if 
it  could  be  shown  that  Alsace  needed,  desired,  and 
deserved  rescue.     She  made  me  feel  that  German 
rule  had  been  intolerable,  and  would  be  far  more 
intolerable  if  the  Germans  were  victorious.     The 
losses  were  terrible;  her  own  house  had  been  left 
headless,  but  better  total  extinction  than  the  ac- 
ceptance of  Hun  tyranny.     This  beautiful  young 
girl  made  me  feel  as  I  had  never  felt  before  the 
reality  of  an  ahen  oppression.     "I  feel  as  if  the 
hoof  of  an  unclean  beast  is  on  my  neck,  and  I  must 
thi'ow  it  off  if  I  die." 


226  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

I  cannot  exaggerate  the  trust  in  America  which 
I  found  in  this  house,  both  in  her  will  to  put  an  end 
to  German  brutalism  and  her  power  to  do  it. 

The  dinner  tendered  by  the  commandant  was  at- 
tended by  a  dozen  officers,  and  was  a  happy  occa- 
sion. American  flags  entwined  with  the  Tricolor 
were  much  in  evidence,  and  the  commandant  made 
an  eloquent  speech  in  English.  Afterward  we  all 
walked  out  together  under  the  stars,  and  we  said 
good  night  with  assurances  of  sincere  good-will  all 
around. 

We  turned  out  early  the  following  morning  for 
the  greatest  experience  possible  in  Alsace, — and  for 
the  matter  of  that,  anywhere, —  a  visit  to  the  battle- 
line  on  the  very  top  of  a  mountain. 

The  route  from  ^lassevaux  to  Hartmannsweiler- 
kopf  takes  one  over  the  Roseberg,  through  Thann 
and  Bitschwiller.  At  the  latter  village  we  were 
joined  by  the  local  commandant,  a  captain  born  in 
Mulhouse,  or  IMiihlliausen,  and  changing  to  a 
higher-powered  car,  we  began  the  steep  ascent.  In 
an  hour  we  had  reached  the  end  of  the  automobile 
road.  We  had  stopped  at  an  ambulance  station 
on  the  way  up,  inspected  the  hospital,  which  was 
hewn  out  in  the  side  of  the  hill,  and  provided  our- 
selves with  steel  helmets  and  gas-masks. 

It  was  a  fme  morning,  affording  exquisitely 
beautiful  views,  and  Fritz  was  taking  full  advan- 
tage of  it  to  pay  his  respects  to  Hartmanns  with 


ALSACE  RECONQUERED         227 

his  77's.  When  we  started  on  the  pedestrian  part 
of  the  journey  an  airplane  was  buzzing  in  the  blue 
sky  above  to  give  location  and  range  to  the  German 
gunners  three  or  four  miles  away. 

We  walked  right  into  the  zone  of  fire,  on  our 
way  picking  up  bits  of  shell  that  had  fallen  in  the 
road  a  few  minutes  before.  Our  officers  shook  their 
heads  over  the  prospect  of  our  going  to  the  top, 
and  at  the  first  post  the  officer  in  charge  pronounced 
against  the  attempt.  The  avion  would  certainly 
see  us,  and  the  German  gunners  would  shoot 
directly  at  us.  We  took  refuge  in  a  dugout,  where 
we  listened  in  security  to  the  bursting  shells  of  the 
Germans,  alternating  with  the  rattle  of  the  French 
fire  on  the  airplane. 

Our  hospitable  officers  meanwhile  brought 
champagne  for  our  refreshment.  The  opinion  was 
that  the  77's  would  keep  busy  until  lunch-time,  but 
that  Fritz  would  surely  hold  his  midday  feast 
sacred,  and  we  might  then  proceed  to  Hartmanns, 
which  lay  twenty  minutes'  climb  farther  up. 
Actually,  the  firing  ceased  about  eleven,  and  the 
hostile  airmen  having  disappeared,  we  made  our 
way  up  a  mule-path  to  the  communicating  trenches. 
This  path  is  not  used  in  daytime  as  a  rule,  and  every 
night  the  Germans  shoot  at  it  from  their  trenches 
on  the  other  side  of  the  valley. 

When  we  entered  the  trench  my  guide  ordered 
a  stop  in  order  to  give  me  a  drill  in  putting  on  the 


228  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

gas-mask,  which,  he  assured  me,  might  prove  very 
useful.  I  was  taught  first  to  throw  down  my  cane, 
then  my  helmet,  with  the  greatest  possible  speed, 
and,  thus  disencumbered,  to  take  the  gas  mask  out 
of  the  bag  in  which  it  was  carried  on  a  strap  over  the 
shoulder  and  put  it  on,  chin  first. 

It  was  a  long  walk  for  a  tenderfoot  up  Hart- 
manns,  and  my  captain  spent  half  his  time  waiting 
for  me.  When  we  reached  a  point  within  a  hundred 
yards  of  the  top  the  trenches  became  a  series  of 
chambers  hewn  in  the  living  rock.  We  crawled  into 
one  of  these  and  looked  through  a  loophole  at  the 
German  trenches  opposite.  They  were  twenty 
meters,  or  about  seventy-five  feet,  away,  or  about 
the  distance  across  Broadway.  The  hole  through 
which  we  looked  was  just  about  big  enough  for  a 
pair  of  eyes  and  the  muzzle  of  a  machine-gun, 
which  was  always  trained  on  the  trench  opposite. 
We  could  see  the  trench  quite  clearly,  but  not  any 
signs  of  life. 

The  Germans  were  there,  just  as  we  were  here. 
If  they  had  shown  an  eyelash,  we  would  have 
popped  at  it,  and  we  were  restricted  to  very  brief 
peeps  lest  Fritz  should  become  interested  in  us. 

All  this  top  part  of  Hartmam:is  has  been  denuded 
of  its  tree  life  and  presents  a  desolate,  bald-headed 
aspect.  It  is  almost  like  fighting  on  the  Cheops 
pyramid.  At  the  veiy  top  a  row  of  five  blasted 
pines  within  a  few  feet  of  one  another  measures  the 


ALSACE  RECONQUERED         229 

distance  between  the  Germans  below  and  the 
French  above.  The  problem  of  getting  up  food 
and  supplies  is  a  difficult  one  for  the  French,  who 
have  a  fine  new  military  road  nearly  all  the  way 
from  the  valley.  How  the  Germans  manage  I 
don't  know.  On  the  French  road  hundreds  of 
pack-mules  toiled  up  as  we  came  along.  Three 
years  warfare  on  top  of  Hartmanns  constitutes  one 
of  the  tragic  romances  of  the  war. 

We  visited  another  chamber,  affording  a  different 
view;  then  we  went  back  into  the  open  trench  and 
made  our  way  to  within  a  few  yards  of  the  very 
top.  We  found  a  place  protected  from  the  Ger- 
mans from  which  we  could  see  the  trenches  at  the 
crest  at  what  seemed  a  few  arms'-length.  This 
view  brought  home  to  us  even  more  vividly  this 
extraordinary  mountain  warfare,  carried  on  grimly 
in  the  face  of  nature's  difficulties  for  possession  of  a 
toe-hold  in  Alsace.  If  the  hardships  were  great 
now,  imagine  what  they  must  be  in  the  rigorous 
winters  peculiar  to  the  Vosges ! 

We  went  down  a  different  way,  stopping  now 
and  again  to  get  the  views.  I  was  struck  by  the 
great  supply  of  living  water  at  the  very  top  and 
all  the  way  down.  On  the  roadside  here  and  there 
are  baths  made  of  rubble  masonry  for  the  soldiers. 

We  soon  got  back  to  the  automobile  road,  and 
having  driven  to  the  ambulance  headquarters,  we 
got  out  for  a  walk  to  the  observation-point  that  af- 


230  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

fords  the  widest  and  best  view  of  the  Thur  Valley. 
It  is  near  the  top  of  a  lower  peak  than  Hartmanns- 
weilerkopf.  It  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  the 
tops  controlled  by  the  French  and,  with  others, 
enables  them  to  dispense  almost  entirely  in  this 
region  with  airplanes  for  observation  purposes. 
It  commands  the  German  trenches  for  miles,  and 
from  it  one  sees  several  great  potash  factories  (they 
are  shut  down  at  present  lest  the  French  be  tempted 
to  destroy  them  from  the  heights)  and  seven  or 
eight  towns  in  the  valley.  Although  the  two  lines 
of  trenches  were  visible,  the  valley  lay  calm  and 
peaceful  in  the  summer  sunshine. 

When  we  walked  back  to  the  ambulance  head- 
quarters I  had  a  chat  with  a  clean-cut  young  Ameri- 
can named  Colie  from  Orange,  TsTew  Jersey.  He 
had  been  here  several  months  driving  an  ambulance, 
and  like  most  of  his  kind  had  things  sized  up  pretty 
well.  You  never  meet  one  of  these  young  Ameri- 
cans without  a  fresh  access  of  confidence  in  all  their 
breed.     They  will  deliver  the  goods. 

We  slid  down  the  hill  past  Bitschweiler  and  on  to 
our  lunch  at  Thann.  The  excellent  White  Bear 
Inn  is  under  the  management  of  M.  Ortlieb,  an 
Alsatian  American.     I  asked: 

"Do  you  know  Chicago?" 

"I  have  been  there." 

"Hoboken?" 


ALSACE  RECONQUERED         231 

"Yes ;  and  Jersey  City.  New  York  still  better, 
but  New  Orleans  best  of  all." 

*'Do  you  know  the  St.  Charles  Hotel?" 

"When  it  was  built  I  opened  it." 

So  small  is  the  world  I 

After  luncheon  we  were  taken  to  Alt  Thann  to 
see  what  the  Germans  had  done  to  the  church.  It 
was  a  pitiful  ruin,  even  the  head  of  the  Saviour  on 
the  cross,  inside  the  nave,  having  been  shot  away. 

Indeed,  the  lovely  town  of  Thann  has  been  half 
ruined,  almost  a  worse  state  than  total  ruin,  by  the 
Boche.  The  only  parallel  that  I  can  recall  is  the 
town  of  Port  Tobacco  in  Charles  County,  Mary- 
land. It  lived  by  being  the  county  seat.  When 
the  latter  was  moved  to  a  rival  town,  La  Plata, 
Port  Tobacco  dried  up  like  a  locust-shell,  and  is  to- 
day one  of  the  saddest  spectacles  I  know.  When 
a  roof  in  Thann  is  destroyed,  no  one  mends  it. 
What  is  the  use?  The  Germans  are  within  a  mile 
of  Thann  and  can  ruin  it  at  will.  Now  and  again 
they  send  over  a  few  score  shells.  They  call  them 
"forget-me-nots." 

There  is  a  cathedral  at  Thann.  A  saying  in 
Alsace  runs  that  the  Cathedral  of  Strasburg  is  the 
highest,  that  at  Metz  the  largest,  that  at  Thann  the 
nicest.  The  Thann  Cathedral  has  some  precious 
stained-glass,  which  fortunately  has  been  taken 
away  for  safety.     The  buildings  have  been  blasted 


232  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

on  all  sides  of  the  square  in  which  the  cathedral 
stands.  The  public  school  and  the  city  hall  are 
ruined;  but  the  cathedral  is  still  intact,  and  latterly 
the  Germans  have  been  less  busy. 

Our  captain  had  been  looking  forward  all  day 
long  to  something,  and  when  we  started  up  the 
hill  which  overlooks  Thann  I  could  see  "the  love- 
light  in  his  'een."  When  we  reached  the  observa- 
tion-point he  handed  me  his  glasses,  and,  pointing 
to  a  steeple  far  away  in  the  plain,  said:  "Look. 
There  is  Mulhouse."  It  was  his  native  city — a  city 
for  which  every  heart  in  reconquered  Alsace  is  wist- 
ful, a  city  once  retaken  by  French  troops  early  in 
the  war,  but  then  impossible  to  hold  against  the 
Germans. 

Here  my  captain  was  born,  as  were  his  fore- 
fathers before  him.  They  owned  a  great  cotton 
manufacturing  business.  He  was  French  in  back- 
ground and  sympathy,  and  when  he  reached  the 
age  of  sixteen  he  was  told  that  he  would  either  have 
to  attest  his  German  citizenship  by  serving  in  the 
army  or  clear  out.  He  moved  to  Belfort  and 
motored  daily  to  Mulhouse  to  look  after  his  busi- 
ness; but,  in  accordance  with  the  German  regula- 
tions, he  was  not  permitted  to  sleep  there. 

Mulhouse  nestles  in  the  middle  of  the  Rhenish 
plain.  We  were  unable  to  descry  the  Rhine,  fifteen 
miles  distant.  From  our  point  of  view  the  valley 
of  the  Thur  was  serene  and  lovely,  an  incredible 


ALSACE  RECONQUERED         233 

picture  of  peace  in  war.  Yet  within  two  and  a 
half  miles  of  where  we  stood  lay  a  bare,  brown 
strip  in  the  midst  of  the  green.  This  was  the  no- 
man's-land  between  the  French  and  German 
trenches.  Through  the  glasses  we  could  make  out 
the  two  lines  gashed  into  the  plain.  On  the  French 
side  there  was  cultivation  to  within  a  few  score  yards 
of  the  first-line  trenches.  Women  were  at  work  in 
the  fields  and  teams  of  horses  and  oxen  drew  their 
loads  along  the  roads. 

We  lay  down  on  the  grass,  and  the  two  literary 
men  who  were  of  our  party  talked  of  English 
poetry.  They  agreed  on  Shakespeare  and  Milton 
as  belonging  in  a  class  by  themselves,  but  there  was 
a  controversy  over  third  place,  which  the  French- 
man assigned  to  Shelley.  The  English  critic  was 
all  for  Wordsworth.  Somewhat  meekly  in  the 
presence  of  such  literary  overlordship,  I  piped  up 
for  Burns. 

"He  is  not  in  the  discussion  at  all,"  said  the 
Englishman.  "Poetry  must  be  song  or  it  must  be 
revelation.  Burns's  work,  while  very  good,  is 
neither.  He  simply  expresses  human  emotions. 
Wordsworth  is  clearly  third  among  English 
poets." 

Over  our  head  the  droning  avion  came  again. 

"We  must  be  going,"  said  the  captain  "In  a  few 
minutes  they  will  be  shooting  at  us.  It  always 
happens,  first  the  airplane,  then  the  77's.     That 


234  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

is  one  advantage  in  dealing  with  the  Germans. 
They  always  do  the  same  thing." 

As  we  turned  to  descend  I  noticed  for  the  first 
time  a  ruined  building  that  had  probably  served 
as  a  place  of  refreshment. 

"The  Bodies  did  that  last  week,"  said  the 
captain.     "They  may  get  playful  any  minute  now." 

At  the  bottom  he  bade  us  good-by  and  went  back 
to  his  post  at  Bitschweiler,  and  right  sorry  were  we 
to  part  with  the  gallant  son  of  Mulhouse. 

From  Thann  to  JNIassevaux  is  an  hour's  drive  on 
a  road  which  for  most  of  the  way  parallels  the 
trenches  at  a  distance  easily  within  shell-fire.  The 
run  was  made  without  incident,  and  from  Masse- 
vaux  we  proceeded  to  La  Chapelle  to  dine  with  the 
division  commander  and  his  staff. 

The  general  I  found  to  be  an  Alsatian,  and  I 
thought  I  could  see  points  of  resemblance  to  Gen- 
eral Pershing.  He  showed  a  deep  feeling  for 
America,  and  we  were  greatly  impressed  with  his 
steady,  soldier-like  character.  The  dinner  was 
dominated  by  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  by  cordial 
talk  of  good-fellowship  and  cooperation  to  beat  the 
Bodies.  An  interesting  feature  was  the  presence 
of  a  lieutenant  who  had  lived  a  year  in  Manchester, 
Vermont,  and  who  acted  as  interpreter  for  the 
happy  occasion.  "I  never  had  a  minute's  doubt  as 
to  where  America  would  land,"  he  said. 

We  got  an  early  start  the  next  morning  and 


ALSACE  RECONQUERED  235 

drove  back  to  La  Chapelle  to  pay  our  respects  to 
the  general,  and  the  Enghsh-speaking  lieutenant 
then  took  us  in  charge  for  a  drive  to  another  portion 
of  the  front.  It  was  evidently  desired  that  we 
should  see  as  much  as  possible.  The  portion  of 
Alsace  under  French  occupation  is  only  a  fraction 
of  the  whole,  but  the  French  feeling  is  gi'eat. 

Our  guide  wanted  us  to  see  a  school  where  the 
children  were  being  taught  French;  so  we  went  to 
a  village  a  few  miles  distant  for  that  purpose.  We 
could  hear  the  guns  booming  and  shells  bursting  in 
the  distance,  while  the  shrill  little  voices  were  piping 
recitations  under  the  leadership  of  a  uniformed 
master.  The  old  German  teacher  was  there,  too, 
as  a  kind  of  assistant  under  the  new  regime. 

There  was  something  very  pitiful  in  the  picture 
of  these  frail  children  of  war.  How  long!  oh,  how 
long!  For  centuries  it  had  been  the  same  in  Alsace 
and  Lorraine,  first  one  harrow  and  then  another 
driving  over  a  race  that  is  fundamentally  neither 
French  nor  German.  They  are  Celts  to  the  core. 
The  Celtic  tongue  rebels  against  "the  language  of 
horses,"  and  the  result  is  the  Alsatian  patois.  Now 
the  children  were  learning  French.  The  struggle 
of  their  childish  optimism  against  hard  conditions 
reminded  me  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson's  constant 
wonderment  at  that  ever-present  quality  in  God's 
creatures.  The  poorest  of  them,  even  the  ants  and 
insects  having  only  a  brief  span  of  life,  and  that 


236  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

always  under  the  menace  of  destruction  by  exposure 
and  starvation,  yet  pursue  their  tasks  with  what 
seems  to  the  human  observer  a  cheerful  energy. 

So  it  is  with  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  of  these 
war-devastated  countries.  In  the  trenches,  behind 
them,  among  all  who  endure  real  hardships,  you 
find  that  optimism,  which  is  the  very  finest  thing 
that  God  has  planted  in  the  hearts  of  men.  These 
little  children  ranging  from  five  to  twelve,  and  the 
treble  of  their  voices  in  recitation  and  song,  will  be 
among  my  ineffaceable  memories. 

The  lieutenant-colonel  in  command  of  the  fii'st 
line  at  this  front  was  a  splendid  Paris-bred  officer 
under  whose  guidance  we  proceeded  to  an  observa- 
tion-point not  much  over  a  mile  behind  the  French 
and  German  trenches.  But  with  a  German  avion 
droning  in  the  sky  above  we  dared  not  stand  long 
in  a  group. 

At  the  colonel's  headquarters  I  was  provided  with 
a  pleasant  surprise.  The  colonel  had  me  step  down 
first  from  the  car,  and  a  band  which  had  been  drawn 
up  in  front  of  headquarters  immediately  struck  up 
"The  Star- Spangled  Banner."  We  all  stood  at  at- 
tention with  swelling  hearts.  The  leader  was  in- 
troduced to  me  and  told  me  that  he  had  reproduced 
and  written  out  the  music  from  memory  the  night 
before,  and  had  taught  it  to  the  musicians  that 
morning  so  as  to  play  it  in  honor  of  a  visiting 
American, 


ALSACE  RECONQUERED         237 

Another  French  soldier  was  brought  up  to  be 
introduced.  He  was  a  naturahzed  American 
citizen,  Alphonse  Nicole,  who  was  living  in  San 
Francisco  when  war  was  declared.  He  came  back 
to  fight  for  his  native  land,  and  had  been  promoted 
to  sergeant.  His  eyes  shone  as  he  spoke  of  what 
his  adopted  country  had  done  to  help  put  the  Boche 
under. 

Throughout  the  Alsatian  trip  I  had  wondered  at 
the  immunity  enjoyed  by  the  towns,  with  German 
trenches  so  near.  The  colonel  told  me  that  it  was 
because  the  Germans  hoped  to  get  these  towns  back 
and  also  because  the  wives,  children,  and  other 
relatives  of  German  soldiers  inhabited  them.  This 
condition  gives  a  certain  appearance  of  unreality 
to  war  in  Alsace  except  at  strategic  points  like 
Hartmannsweilerkopf. 

We  drove  to  Belfort  in  time  for  lunch,  and  de- 
scending at  the  Grand  Hotel,  in  the  center  of  the 
town,  we  were  surprised  to  see  that  the  whole  facade 
had  been  peppered  with  shell-fire.  The  omni- 
presence of  war  was  again  shown  when  we  entered 
the  hotel.  The  woman  clerk  fell  into  conversation 
with  my  colleague,  and  told  him  that  at  the 
beginning  of  hostilities  she  and  her  nephew  had  been 
employed  in  the  Criterion  in  Piccadilly  Circus. 
The  nephew  at  once  enlisted  in  the  French  Army. 
In  one  of  the  battles  of  the  Chemin  des  Dames  a 
year   ago   he   had   disappeared.     She   had   heard 


238  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

nothing  since,  and  had  given  him  up  for  dead. 

And  so  it  is  everywhere  in  France.  There  is  a 
certain  alleviation  in  the  universality  of  the  bereave- 
ment and  suffering.  It  is  the  normal  state.  There 
comes  from  it  a  consolation  that  recalls  a  story  of 
Buddha.  A  woman  who  had  lost  her  only  son  be- 
sought him  to  bring  the  dead  back  to  life. 

"I  command  you,"  said  Buddha  for  reply,  "to 
travel  over  India  and  seek  for  a  grain  of  mustard 
in  a  house  that  has  not  known  death." 

After  a  long  absence  the  woman  returned. 

"And  have  ye  found  the  mustard  seed?"  asked 
Buddlia. 

"No,"  replied  the  woman;  "but  everywhere  I 
have  found  sympathy  and  consolation." 

Alsace  and  Lorraine  are  the  dominating  topic 
in  France  at  this  moment.  We  are  all  of  us  very 
free  in  thinking  how  we  would  manage  Germany 
if  we  were  in  control  of  it.  If  I  were  the  kaiser, 
it  seems  to  me  that  I  would  give  France  a  title  deed 
to  Alsace  and  Lorraine  right  now.  It  would  be 
a  sensational  move  but  it  would  do  more  to  enable 
Germany  to  come  out  of  the  trouble  she  has  made 
for  herself  with  a  comparatively  whole  skin  than 
anything  else  she  could  do.  If  we  are  to  have  an 
end  of  Prussian  militarism, — and  we  are, —  it  will 
be  German  energj'-  and  enterprise  rather  than 
frontier  lines  that  will  give  that  industrial  com- 


ALSACE  RECONQUERED  239 

munity  a  hold  on  the  indispensable  mineral  re- 
sources of  Lorraine  and  Alsace. 

These  provinces  are  the  double  tap-root  of  con- 
flict, ruin,  and  misery  in  Europe.  The  few 
thousand  square  miles  and  two  million  population 
of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  have  cost  not  less  than 
twenty  million  lives,  and  for  centuries  the  insoluble 
problem  of  their  rightful  ownership  has  been  the 
ever-present  death's-head  over  the  prosperity  and 
happiness  of  millions  of  human  beings. 

I  came  away  from  Alsace  with  one  strong  con- 
viction. A  plebiscite  to  determine  allegiance  is  im- 
practicable. Among  other  reasons  for  this  belief 
are  the  following: 

1. — The  present  population  of  two  million  in- 
cludes about  four  hundred  thousand  Germans  im- 
ported into  the  provinces  after  the  Franco-Prussia 
War.  While  these  are  residents,  they  have  never 
become  assimilated  into  the  people.  They  obtained 
possession  of  the  property  of  the  French  unfairly, 
and  their  moral  status  is  tainted. 

2. — About  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
French  were  driven  back  to  France  by  the  un- 
fair policy  of  Germany,  and  these,  though  properly 
a  part  of  the  provinces,  would  not  be  allowed  to 
vote. 

3. — Germany,  having  been  in  occupation,  was  in 
the  position  to  force  men  into  her  armies,  and  the 


240  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

vast  majority  of  serviceable  Alsatians  and  Lor- 
rainers  are  German  soldiers. 

4. — Most  of  the  inhabitants  who  have  scattered 
over  the  vs^orld  since  the  Franco-Prussian  War  are 
French  sympathizers  who  could  not  be  happy  under 
German  rule.  This  has  further  deprived  Alsace 
and  Lorraine  of  the  means  of  making  vocal  their 
natural  preference  for  France. 

5. — Who  could  hold  a  plebiscite  and  guarantee 
its  fairness?  It  would  be  difficult,  perhaps  an  im- 
possible problem. 

Monsieur  Painleve  in  his  interview  in  "The  New 
York  Times,"  Premier  Ribot  in  his  Fourth  of  July 
speech,  every  spokesman  for  France,  on  every  pos- 
sible occasion,  sounds  the  same  note:  "A  great 
moral  question  cannot  be  arbitrated.  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  are  ours  and  must  be  returned  to  France 
unconditionally  and  forever." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

TO   THE   EESCUE   OF   ITALY 

In  Italy  one  sees  much  of  the  famous  Bersaglieri, 
wearing  their  head-gear  of  cock-feathers,  and  mov- 
ing about  as  hght  as  lapwings.  These  men  go 
through  several  processes  of  selection  and  are  one 
of  the  finest  picked  bodies  in  any  army.  The  thing 
that  weeds  out  all  weaklings  who  may  have  any  de- 
sire to  go  with  these  troops  is  that  they  march  at 
the  double-quick.  A  man  has  got  to  be  young, 
strong,  sound  in  wind,  heart,  lungs,  and  legs  to  pass 
this  test.  I  was  told  that  three  whole  divisions,  or 
sixty  thousand  of  these  splendid  fellows,  were  wiped 
out  in  the  retreat  from  the  Isonzo. 

The  Italian  people  have  been  eager  for  their  king 
to  show  up  strongly  and  every  inch  a  king  in  these 
trying  times.  Personality  in  the  king  would  do 
almost  more  to  unify  Italy  than  any  other  one  thing. 
The  king  is  modest,  faithful,  and  capable,  but  too 
timid  for  the  self-assertion  which  the  Italians  long 
for  in  him.  Self-sacrifice  at  the  front  is  no  trouble 
to  him  at  all,  but  he  hates  to  come  out  in  addresses 
to  the  people,  and  that  is  precisely  what  they  want 
him  to  like  and  to  do.  The  king's  shrinking  from 
pubhcity  is  probably  in  some  measure  due  to  his 

241 


242    FLASHES  FROM  THE  FROl^^T 

short  stature.  When  his  queen  is  on  her  knees  and 
he  is  standing  up,  their  height  is  precisely  the  same. 
The  queen  is  a  model  mother,  but  she,  too,  has  little 
fancy  for  the  public  and  spectacular  side  of  the 
royal  office. 

Paris,  October  31,  1917.  After  forty-eight 
hours  of  strenuous  work  on  the  Italian  situation  and 
other  very  important  matters,  the  French  prime 
minister  Painleve  gave  me  an  appointment  at  the 
War  Office  at  10  o'clock  last  night,  and  made  a 
statement  on  behalf  of  France  and  the  other  Allies. 
Before  discussing  general  questions,  M.  Painleve 
spoke  very  earnestly  of  Italy. 

"France  and  England,"  he  said,  "will  fly  to 
Italy's  aid  with  all  means  available.  We  are  not 
only  impelled  by  military  interest.  We  can  never 
forget  that  our  valiant  ally,  Italy,  voluntarily  took 
up  arms  and  exposed  herself  to  such  perils  as  these 
in  order  to  defend  the  sacred  cause  of  right  for 
which  we  are  all  fighting. 

"The  recent  French  offensive,  flawless  in  its 
method  and  execution  and  irresistible  in  its  plan,  is 
significant  of  the  sustained  fighting  power  of 
France,  of  that  reserve  force  which  can  still  be 
drawn  on  after  over  three  years  at  grips  with  the 
most  formidable  military  organization  the  world  has 
ever  seen. 

"If  we  have  our  troubles  in  France,  they  are 


TO  THE  RESCUE  OF  ITALY      243 

superficial,  and  tend  to  cure  themselves  by  their  own 
manifestations.  There  has  never  been  a  minute 
since  the  Marne  that  France  has  not  been  more  than 
equal  to  every  obligation  imposed  by  the  war.  Our 
burdens  have  been  heavy,  but  never  bej'^ond  our 
strength.  In  fields  and  factories  our  women  and 
children  have  proved  worthy  rivals  to  our  soldiers 
in  constancy  and  courage. 

"All  the  belligerents  have  been  subject  to  the 
exhaustion  of  a  long-drawn-out  war,  but  America's 
participation  puts  the  Entente  on  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent basis  from  the  enemy.  The  incalculable 
fresh  resources,  moral  and  material,  thus  thrown  in 
on  our  side  raise  the  average  of  endurance  and  strik- 
ing capacity  as  against  the  opponent  not  thus  re- 
cruited, and  worn  to  the  breaking-point  by  the  pro- 
longed military  and  economic  stress. 

"That  is  the  vital  point  in  the  situation  as  it 
stands  to-day.  France,  England,  and  Italy,  sup- 
ported by  a  new  ally  of  unmeasured  material 
wealth,  but  still  richer  in  spirit  and  unbreakable 
will,  are  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  one  sure  purpose. 

"There  is  to  be  neither  halt  nor  parley  until  the 
German  brute  force  is  shattered  and  world-terror- 
ism is  ended.  Momentary  trials  which  are  afflict- 
ing Italy,  and  against  which  the  force  of  Allies  will 
make  successful  headway,  may  delay,  but  not 
modify,  the  issue  of  this  formidable  war,  which 
henceforth  is  inevitable.     Germany  may  make  other 


244  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

spectacular  moves  in  the  far-off  and  temporarily  in- 
defensible areas,  but  we  are  dealing  solid  blows  on 
the  western  front. 

"Whenever  Germany  is  sincerely  ready  to  con- 
sider peace  it  will  be  because  she  is  beaten,  and  when 
she  is  beaten,  the  victors  will  write  the  terms  in  con- 
formity with  justice  and  the  rights  of  humanity, 
steadfastly  refusing  to  admit  any  compromise  with 
violence.  This  note  of  high  resolve  struck  by 
President  Wilson  in  all  his  recent  utterances  has 
been  accepted  and  adopted  by  the  European  Allies. 
We  stand  together  in  complete  harmony,  and  we 
are  convinced  that  there  is  no  other  road  to  peace 
save  by  victory. 

"The  arrival  of  the  Americans  in  the  trenches," 
M.  Painleve  concluded,  "is  greeted  with  the  great- 
est joy  by  their  French  comrades  in  arms  and  by 
our  whole  nation.  It  is  a  beginning  not  only  of  the 
utmost  symbolical  importance,  but  of  enormous 
material  significance.  Before  long  I  intend  to  pass 
an  evening  in  one  of  the  trenches  occupied  by  the 
American  troops  in  order  to  bring  to  them  person- 
ally and  on  the  spot  the  greeting  and  good  wishes 
of  France." 

Turin,  November  5, 1917.  I  had  my  first  chance 
of  seeing  how  Italy  was  taking  the  crisis.  Crowds 
lined  the  route  for  miles  to  see  the  soldiers  off  for 
the  front,  but  there  was  no  excitement. 


TO  THE  RESCUE  OF  ITALY      245 

I  occupied  a  compartment  with  an  Italian  officer 
returning  from  Petrograd,  and  as  we  were  invaded 
in  the  free  Itahan  way  by  fresh  sets  of  passengers 
going  short  distances,  with  whom  the  officer  con- 
versed freely,  we  got  a  good  line  on  the  feeling  of 
this  part  of  Italy.  The  people  had  been  shocked 
to  the  core.  They  were  unprepared.  The  very 
worst  they  had  reckoned  on  was  the  halt  of  the 
Italian  advance  for  the  winter,  which  was  causing 
considerable  grumbling. 

When  Cadorna's  frank  communique  was  read 
by  the  crowds  assembled  in  the  GaUeria  Vittorio 
Emanuele,  the  famous  Milan  arcade,  last  Sun- 
day night,  scores  momentarily  gave  way  to  their 
grief,  weeping  hysterically ;  but  soon  a  common  in- 
stinct of  courage  and  loyalty  asserted  itself,  and  the 
whole  crowd  joined  in  shouts  of  acclaim  for  Italy 
and  the  king.  The  latter  possesses  the  love  and 
confidence  of  the  people,  who  also  continued  to 
trust  Cadorna.  Reasons  for  this  loss  in  a  few  days 
of  all  that  had  been  taken  with  sacrifice,  and 
cherished  so  passionately  as  the  homeland  free  from 
alien  rule,  are  sought  elsewhere  than  at  the  com- 
mando suprem  o . 

Milan,  which  is  Italy's  chief  commercial  city,  is 
also  the  center  of  the  war  spirit.  The  public  here 
is  uninformed  about  details  of  the  military  opera- 
tions, does  not  even  know  the  present  army  head- 
quarters, but  faith  is  pretty  general  in  Cadorna  and 


246  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

in  Allied  cooperation.  I  have  not  heard  one  word 
of  criticism  of  any  ally  except  Russia.  I  feel  safe 
in  saying  that  this  part  of  Italy  and,  so  far  as  I 
can  gather,  other  parts,  have  stood  the  shock  of  the 
disaster  well,  and  that  there  is  not  going  to  be  the 
kind  of  collapse  that  alone  could  make  Italy  put  an 
eventual  Allied  victory  in  danger. 

Rome,  November  8,  1917.  My  observations  here 
confirm  previous  insistence  upon  the  urgent  need 
of  centralized  methods  of  managing  the  war.  At 
bottom  this  war  is  the  biggest  business  enterprise 
ever  undertaken,  and  while  the  kaiser  handles  his 
end  of  it  as  such,  each  of  the  Allies  is  more  or  less 
plajdng  its  own  separate  game.  With  vast  re- 
sources, the  Alhes  have  discussed  and  postponed 
critical  decisions  until  they  have  lost  the  advantage. 

To  mention  one  recent  instance;  if  the  Korniloff 
movement  had  been  handled  by  the  Allies  as  the 
kaiser  would  have  handled  such  an  opportunity,  the 
Russian  situation  might  have  been  stabilized  and 
the  Italian  drive  rendered  impossible. 

There  had  not  been  a  single  Allied  action,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Battle  of  the  Marne,  which 
ranks  as  a  great  aggressive  stroke.  The  Allies  are 
not  organized  to  initiate  and  execute  big  policies. 
Instead  of  looking  ahead  and  planning  on  a  big 
scale,  they  yield  where  pressure  is  applied,  with  the 
result  that  they  usually  trail  along  a  few  days  or 


TO  THE  RESCUE  OF  ITALY      247 

weeks  behind  Germany.  Purely  local  and  political 
matters  divide  and  divert  attention  in  the  Allied 
chancelleries. 

Coming  on  top  of  many  previous  heartbreaking 
lost  opportunities,  the  present  menace  in  Italy  is 
quite  serious  enough  to  rally  the  Entente  powers 
at  last  into  substituting  for  the  town  meeting  some 
plan  under  which  they  can  see  the  war  situation  as 
a  whole,  and  concentrate  with  foresight,  originality, 
and  driving  power,  as  we  understand  those  things 
in  America. 

In  a  word,  after  thi'ee  years,  it  is  time  to  quit 
playing  amateur  against  professional.  If  America 
gives  the  lead,  all  the  rest  will  follow.  There  are 
directed  against  us  none  of  the  petty  jealousies 
peculiar  to  Europe,  and  all  the  Allied  countries 
have  complete  confidence  in  om'  disinterestedness 
and  sound  leadership. 

November  13,  1917.  To  understand  the  present 
situation  in  Italy,  we  must  consider  three  essential 
facts : 

The  first  is  geographical.  The  remark  is  attrib- 
uted to  Napoleon:  "Italy  is  a  wonderful  country, 
but  too  long."  From  Turin  to  Naples  and  back 
is  as  long  a  trip  for  a  Caproni  as  from  Turin  to 
London. 

The  second  fact  is  racial  and  dynastic.  The  king- 
dom of  Italy  is  only  fifty  years  old,  composed  of 


248  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

units  widely  separated,  and  differing  in  race  and  in 
historic  antecedents. 

The  third  fact  is  that  there  is  a  kingdom  within 
a  kingdom.  The  Vatican  is  in  Italy,  but  not  of 
it.  It  is  necessary  to  be  careful  on  this  del- 
icate ground,  where  much  controversy  is  raging. 
Enough  to  say  that  no  one  can  grasp  the  present 
condition  who  does  not  realize  that  in  Italy  two 
separate  and  inherently  antagonistic  powers  occupy 
the  same  ground,  the  one  spiritual,  with  the  tem- 
poral in  retrospect  and  prospect,  and  the  other 
purely  temporal.  They  rule  over  the  same  sub- 
jects, for  vii'tually  all  Italy  is  Catholic.  History 
has  bequeathed  this  condition. 

If  all  Italy  had  the  spirit  of  Milan,  no  question 
would  arise  as  to  its  power  of  resistance  to  the  Ger- 
man invasion  or  as  to  a  separate  peace.  The  cap- 
ital of  Lombardy  is  the  chief  jewel  in  the  crown  of 
the  Italian  Kingdom.  Not  even  in  America  does 
city  pride  exist  more  strongly  than  in  Milan. 

When  I  arrived  three  days  ago  I  found  every- 
where deep  disappointment  that  the  Isonzo  line 
should  have  given  way,  and  dread  of  the  possible 
consequences;  but  there  was  neither  panic  nor  in- 
difference. I  attended  service  at  the  great  cathe- 
dral. On  every  face  was  written  anxiety,  but  also 
earnestness  and  determination.  An  enterprising 
and  energetic  people  have  built  a  fine  city  and  are 
filled  with  zeal  for  future  efforts.    They  watch  with 


TO  THE  RESCUE  OF  ITALY      249 

anxious  eyes  the  approaching  Germanic  tide  from 
the  Venetian  plain,  realizing  also  the  possibilities 
of  new  eruptions  from  the  Cadore  and  the  Trentino. 
Tears  gather  in  their  eyes  as  they  contemplate  the 
city  which  they  have  been  building  with  such  labor, 
and  love  so  well;  but  there  is  no  white  feather  in 
Milan.  The  JNIilanese  will  die,  if  necessary,  in  the 
proud  belief  that  their  city  is  the  center  of  Italy's 
will  to  war. 

Rome  is  a  different  story.  There  is  no  danger 
here  of  German  murder  and  pillage.  The  censor- 
ship is  strict,  and  the  masses  are  ignorant  of  the 
seriousness  of  the  Northern  situation.  Further- 
more, Rome  lives  much  in  the  past,  and  her  climate 
is  relaxing.  Rome  has  a  great  many  "knockers." 
There  are  circles  which  take  pride  in  holding  "well- 
balanced"  views.  From  such  sources  flows  a  con- 
stant stream  of  cynical  sanity,  which  is  destructive 
of  the  war  spirit.  Only  in  the  house  of  spiritual 
frenzy  will  men  make  the  sacrifices  imposed  by  the 
defense  of  the  nation. 

In  Rome  one  encounters  few  fine  enthusiasms. 
The  German  invasion  is  discussed  in  an  entirely 
different  temper  from  that  which  one  meets  in 
JMilan.  Warm-blooded  optimism  is  non-existent. 
There  is  polite  appreciation  of  America's  response 
to  Italy's  needs. 

By  common  consent  Baron  Sonnino  is  Italy's 
leading  figure.     He  is  of  Jewish  origin,  and  Eng- 


250  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

lish  on  his  mother's  side.  I  had  introductions  to  a 
family  in  Rome  which  is  on  intimate  terms  with 
him,  and  I  hoped  to  get  an  interview,  but  found 
that  it  was  quite  as  impossible  as  to  interview  the 
Grand  Lama  of  Tibet.  He  has  never  once  talked 
to  a  newspaper  man  even  privately,  and  is  the  most 
aloof  of  all  the  world's  statesmen.  Sonnino's  bril- 
liant mind  illuminates  everything  within  a  certain 
radius,  but  the  circle  on  which  he  throws  its  light  is 
small. 

It  is  reported  that  the  Swiss  are  heavily  mobilized 
on  the  Italian  frontier.  The  reason  given  by  a 
well-informed  authority  is  this:  in  previous  wars 
Italian  and  Austrian  troops  have  not  been  over- 
scrupulous about  territorial  boundaries.  Switzer- 
land is  determined  in  the  present  circumstances  that 
there  shall  not  be  the  smallest  violation  of  her  neu- 
trahty. 

November  14,  1917.  From  different  sources,  in- 
cluding military  experts  returning  from  the  front, 
I  am  able  to  piece  together  the  following  explana- 
tion of  the  break  on  the  Isonzo,  that  led  to  the 
Italian  rout. 

The  positions  held  by  the  Italians,  won  by  the 
greatest  valor  and  by  immense  losses,  seemed  al- 
most impregnable  except  to  protracted  siege.  The 
terrain  opposite  Tolmino  on  the  Isonzo  front  was 
precipitous,  and  the  position  along  the  top  of  this 


TO  THE  RESCUE  OF  ITALY      251 

small  mountain-range  was  strongly  fortified  with 
cannon  of  large  caliber.  The  slopes  and  foot  of 
the  ridge  were  fortified  by  trenches  with  wire  en- 
tanglements and  other  obstacles.  The  Isonzo 
River  flows  at  the  foot  of  this  fortified  ridge. 
Along  the  top  of  the  ridge  ran  a  new  and  excellent 
road,  macadamized  and  drained.  This  position  in 
front  of  Tolmino  appeared  to  be  very  strong,  and 
I  am  told  that  this  view  was  held  by  the  supreme 
command  of  the  Italian  Army.  They  have  been 
criticized  for  placing  troops  there  who  might  have 
been  infected  by  the  peace  propaganda,  but  it  can 
be  stated  in  their  favor  that  troops  with  any  spirit 
whatever  could  have  held  this  position  sufficiently 
long  for  reinforcements  to  be  sent  them  in  case  of 
wavering. 

It  would  seem,  however,  that  the  Second  Army, 
unknown  to  the  higher  command,  had  been  honey- 
combed by  sedition,  fostered  by  very  subtle  so- 
cialist and  other  propaganda,  which  was  coupled 
with  an  intense  desire  for  peace  and  for  an  oppor- 
tunity to  return  to  their  families,  for  peasants  com- 
posed the  largest  part  of  this  army.  Some  of  the 
troops  it  has  also  been  stated,  when  captured  or 
when  searched,  had  on  their  persons  copies  of  the 
Socialist  paper  "Avanti." 

It  is  known  that  a  very  heavy  bombardment  was 
turned  on  the  trenches  in  front  of  Tolmino,  and  that 
a  shell  fell  within  every  hundred  feet  of  trenches 


252  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

every  fifteen  seconds  for  two  hours  preceding  the 
attack.  The  Austro- German  attack  was  aided  by 
mist  and  fog  from  the  river  valley.  This,  however, 
was  a  normal  condition,  as  in  the  morning,  even 
in  August  and  the  beginning  of  September  in  a 
good  season,  this  mist  was  usual,  particularly  along 
the  upper  and  middle  Isonzo  Valley. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  trenches  of  the  Itahan 
position  that  were  carried  by  the  Austrians  were 
first  bombarded  with  a  new  gas,  which  nauseated 
the  men  in  the  trenches  during  the  first  part  of 
the  bombardment,  and  compelled  them  to  remove 
their  masks.  Four  to  five  minutes  after  this  first 
bombardment  of  nauseating  gas,  asphyxiating  gas 
was  used,  which  caught  the  men  with  their  masks 
off,  and  confusion  as  well  as  a  great  many  casualties 
resulted  therefrom. 

The  intelhgence  work  of  the  Austro-Germans 
was  excellent.  It  was  reported  that  the  first  shot 
fired  during  the  bombardment  destroyed  the  tel- 
ephone central  of  that  section  of  the  front.  The 
disaffection  was  not  confined  to  men  in  the  front 
line  trenches  only,  but  was  prevalent  among  the 
reserves,  and  many  positions  in  the  front-line 
trenches  were  held  until  the  Italians  were  vir- 
tually annihilated ;  for  the  reserves,  who  should  have 
supported  them,  had  already  retreated.  Thus  a 
gap  in  the  line  was  left  where  there  was  virtually 
no  resistance.     It  is  said  that  the  way  to  Udine  was 


TO  THE  RESCUE  OF  ITALY      253 

absolutely  clear,  if  the  Germans  had  only  known  it, 
thirty-six  hours  after  their  fii'st  attack. 

As  there  are  very  few  roads  in  the  mountains, 
when  one  portion  of  the  defensive  line  in  the  lines 
gave  way,  undoubtedly  these  roads  became  heavily 
congested,  and  the  rolling  up  of  the  line  on  both 
sides  of  the  gap,  once  begun,  could  not  be  arrested. 
About  twelve  kilometers  of  the  defensive  line  fell 
at  once  and  through  this  gap  poured  the  Austro- 
German  offensive,  virtually  unresisted  except  by  a 
few  isolated  organizations,  such  as  the  Bersaglieri 
and  Alpine  regiments,  who  were  almost  annihilated. 
When  the  opening  through  the  line  became  so  large 
that  it  could  not  be  closed,  it  caused  the  withdrawal 
of  the  armies  on  both  sides.  The  withdrawal  added 
to  the  confusion. 

I  have  also  been  informed  that  wireless  and  tele- 
graphic codes  were  captured  by  the  enemy  or  ob- 
tained by  treachery.  The  supreme  command  at 
Udine  could  not  communicate  in  any  way  with  the 
lesser  commands  except  by  means  of  messengers. 

Though  twenty-five  hundred  guns  of  different 
calibers  were  captured,  many  of  these  guns  were 
old  and  of  obsolete  patterns,  and  a  great  many, 
while  they  were  a  loss  to  the  Italians,  could  not  be 
used  against  them,  as  they  had  destroyed  many 
parts  before  they  were  captured. 

The  great  difficulty  at  present  seems  to  be  not 
so  much  lack  of  men,  but  the  great  loss  of  arms. 


254  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

equipment,  guns,  and  munitions  of  every  descrip- 
tion. 

A  few  days  ago  a  royal  decree  was  promulgated 
by  the  supreme  command,  giving  five  days'  grace 
for  all  soldiers  separated  from  their  armies  to  report 
to  military  authority.  If  they  did  not  do  this  within 
the  time  specified,  they  would  be  treated  as  deserters 
and  shot  in  the  back,  according  to  the  army  penal 
code. 


CHAPTER  XV 

GREAT   BRITAIN   AT   BAY 

December  1, 1916.  When  I  embarked  for  Liver- 
pool, on  Saturday,  November  18,  I  fomid  awaiting 
me  on  board  the  clean,  comfortable,  swift,  and  safe 
American  liner  St.  Paul  a,  letter  from  a  man  prom- 
inent in  affairs,  well  known  among  his  intimates  for 
a  childlike  curiosity  exceeding  that  of  a  certain 
famous  Chinese  diplomat.  This  letter  set  out  a 
score  or  more  of  questions,  and,  as  they  show  forth 
a  typical  American  interest,  I  have  sought  ma- 
terial for  categorical  answers. 

What,  if  any,  effect  has  the  increased  rate  of  tax- 
ation had  upon  the  apparent  life  and  habits  of 
Englishmen? 

In  the  sense  of  imposing  real  hardship,  very  little. 
The  manner  of  life  has  been  much  altered,  but 
fundamentally,  chiefly  in  quarters  where  alteration 
has  meant  improvement.  It  is  as  it  was  with  the 
philosopher  in  the  garret.  The  garret  was  very 
small  and  crowded,  and  a  visitor  exclaimed: 

"Why,  5'ou  have  n't  room  here  to  swing  a  cat." 

"I  don't  want  to  swing  a  cat,"  the  philosopher 
replied. 

255 


256  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

The  well-provided  classes  discover  that  with  small 
sense  of  sacrifice  they  can  give  up  much  luxury 
that  had  been  masquerading  as  necessity.  Life  has 
become  compressed  and  restricted;  the  contrasts 
which  usually  differentiate  plenty  and  poverty  and 
give  the  sense  of  satisfaction  and  comfort  to  the  for- 
tunate are  now  furnished  by  the  suffering  and  self- 
denial  of  those  directly  connected  with  the  war,  the 
soldiers  and  their  near  relatives,  while  this  latter 
class  in  turn  are  sustained  by  the  heroism  of  their 
sacrifice.  Society  has  thus  established  a  new  bal- 
ance and  goes  on  without  complaint,  perhaps  even 
with  a  larger  measure  of  inner  happiness. 

What  is  true  of  the  upper  and  middle  classes 
would  be  true  of  the  lower  in  similar  circumstances 
were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  flow  of  money  to 
labor  is  in  vastly  increased  volume  since  the  war. 
There  is,  therefore,  no  economic  pinch  in  that  quar- 
ter. The  danger  lies  in  the  formation  of  habits  the 
indulgence  of  which  will  become  impossible  after 
the  war  and  the  necessary  readjustment  to  the  re- 
turn of  normal  conditions. 

Are  the  Enghsh  people  doing  anything  the  better 
to  conserve  the  resources  of  the  country  ?  Are  they, 
for  instance,  cultivating  more  of  the  ground,  that 
was  formerly  given  up  for  parks  and  hunting  pur- 
poses? Are  they  making  any  definite  efforts  to 
restrict  waste  and  unnecessary  use  of  food  and  ma- 
terials ? 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY        257 

The  acreage  under  cultivation  in  1916  showed  a 
decrease  as  compared  with  1915,  owing  to  labor 
scarcity.  Farm  labor  is  too  heavy  for  English 
women.  They  cannot  stand  it,  and  the  males  have 
been  drawn  off  to  military  duty  and  munition-mak- 
ing. It  cannot  be  denied  that  England  is  still 
backward  both  in  organized  effort  to  promote  pro- 
duction and  to  stop  waste.  A  measure  for  the  latter 
purpose  is  now  going  through  the  painful  process 
of  parturition  in  the  cabinet,  amid  the  sneers  and 
gibes  of  the  opposition  press. 

What  particularly  impressed  you  on  your  ar- 
rival in  England  after  an  absence  of  fifteen  months? 

The  changelessness  of  England.  As  Mr.  Brit- 
ling  remarks,  "Nothing  is  ever  changed  in  England 
except  the  mind  of  England  when  that  mind  is 
made  up  to  change  something." 

The  country-side  looks  nmch  the  same  as  it  did 
when  I  last  saw  it.  London  is  much  darker  at 
night,  the  parts  lying  beyond  the  main  arteries  being 
very  dark  indeed.  The  streets  are  pretty  bare  of 
pedestrian  traffic  after,  say,  eight  o'clock.  The 
busses  and  cabs  go  swiftly  through  the  darkness, 
with  a  comparatively  small  percentage  of  accidents. 
The  bus  service  is  well  maintained,  but  cabs  are 
scarce.  Women  have  not  yet  developed  as  drivers. 
The  spirit  of  the  people  is  about  the  same. 

London,  July  18,  1917.     The  change  at  the  Ad- 


258  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

miralty,  by  which  Sir  Eric  Geddes  succeeds  Sir 
Edward  Carson,  calls  attention  to  submarine  con- 
ditions, and  there  have  been  sharp  revisions  of  opin- 
ion in  the  last  few  hours  as  a  result  of  a  reexami- 
nation of  facts  and  figures. 

The  prime  minister's  recent  assurance  of  safety 
from  the  submarine  had  a  sedative  effect  on  the 
public  mind,  but  discussion  by  well-informed  per- 
sons, particularly  in  banking  and  commercial  cir- 
cles, during  the  last  few  days  has  brought  out  con- 
ditions that  are  disquieting.  Confidence  about  the 
submarine  situation  appears  to  have  had  no  founda- 
tion more  substantial  than  the  hope  that  some  sci- 
entific means  was  surely  in  the  way  of  being  found 
to  put  the  submarine  finally  and  entirely  out  of  bus- 
iness. The  syllogism  was:  America  is  a  wonder- 
fully inventive  country;  America  is  now  a  bellig- 
erent ;  ergo,  America  will  provide  a  solution  for  the 
submarine  menace. 

That  part  of  England  that  wakes  up  somewhat 
ahead  of  the  rest  has  suddenly  grasped  a  fact  that 
is  so  simple  that  it  ought  to  have  been  realized  and 
acted  on  long  ago.  The  average  man  has  been 
thinking  about  food, — it  has  been  plentiful, — or 
thinking  about  Germany's  threat  to  reduce  England 
in  two  months.  Five  have  elapsed,  and  England  is 
no  worse  off.  What  has  escaped  attention,  and 
what  is  now  brought  to  the  fore  by  the  change  at 
the  Admiralty  is  the  inexorable  fact,  which  any- 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY        259 

body  with  knowledge  of  the  rule  of  three  can  cipher 
out  for  himself,  that  at  the  present  rate  of  con- 
struction and  destruction  there  cannot  possibly  be 
at  the  end  of  a  few  months  shipping  enough,  unless 
British  commitments  elsewhere  are  considerably 
curtailed,  to  feed  England  and  France  and  main- 
tain the  present  armies  in  the  field;  and  as  for  con- 
veying America's  armies  to  Europe  and  maintain- 
ing them,  it  will  simply  be  out  of  the  question. 

The  loss  of  ships  by  submarines  totals  six  hundred 
thousand  tons  a  month,  or  from  two  to  three  times 
the  total  of  new  construction.  There  is  no  possibil- 
ity whatever  of  construction  capacity  overtaking  the 
present  rate  of  loss  in  time  to  avoid  a  peace  being 
forced  on  the  AUies.  What  is  wanted,  therefore, 
is  largely  to  increase  the  destruction  of  U-boats. 

The  British  Government  is,  and  the  American 
Government  ought  to  be,  eye  to  eye  with  the  stag- 
gering fact  that  the  Allies  have  got  to  find  a  way  to 
curb  the  submarine  or  lose  the  war,  a  way  not  yet 
found  and  not  even  approached  except  exper- 
imentally. Damage  by  submarines  has  been  re- 
duced by  American  cooperation,  and  every  single 
ton  of  craft  effective  against  submarines  ought  to 
be  sent  to  European  waters  without  a  single  hour's 
delay. 

It  is  crystal-clear  that  in  American  waters  pro- 
tection is  not  needed  from  the  submarine,  and  to 
keep  destroyers  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  is  sheer 


260  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

waste  when  the  situation  here  is  so  critical.  The 
English  fleet  over  here  protects  all  interests  over 
there.  For  the  pm-pose  of  this  war,  the  Irish  Sea 
is  just  as  truly  American  as  Long  Island  Sound. 

It  is  around  the  Irish  Coast  that  the  fight  to  make 
a  world  safe  for  democracy  is  at  its  deadliest  crisis. 
No  military  victory,  short  of  marching  into  Berlin, 
can  take  the  place  of  a  death-blow  to  the  German 
U-boat. 

September  6.  Although  I  had  been  in  London 
when  the  Zeppelins  were  calling  in  the  outskirts,  I 
had  never  before  been  in  the  very  midst  of  an  air 
raid,  and  the  experience  of  Wednesday  night  was 
a  novel  one.  The  strangest  thing  about  it  was  how 
we  should  all  be  so  cool  in  such  exciting  and  dan- 
gerous circumstances. 

The  first  notice  was  the  passing  of  the  fire-engines 
in  the  street  below.  Of  course  we  got  out  of  bed 
for  that.  A  policeman  on  a  bicycle  immediately 
followed,  wearing  on  his  body  a  "take  cover"  sign 
and  sounding  his  bicycle-bell.  Within  a  few  min- 
utes we  heard  four  explosions  which  might  have  been 
right  around  the  corner.  Bombs  were  falling  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  four  miles,  and  exploding  as  they 
struck  the  earth.  My  flat  is  on  the  fifth  floor  of 
a  six-story  building,  and  has  a  big  bay-window  that 
commands  a  fine  view.  I  stood  there  for  a  few 
minutes  watching  the  search-lights  and  trying  to 


,         (' 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY        261 

make  out  the  Gothas,  the  droning  of  which  was  dis- 
tinctly audible,  and  otherwise  see  something  of  the 
show;  but  was  finally  obhged  to  yield  to  feminine 
insistence,  and  repaired  to  an  inside  hall  on  the 
third  floor,  where  the  occupants  of  the  building  had 
taken  refuge. 

This  hall  had  no  windows,  and  as  the  building  is 
of  concrete,  was  comparatively  safe;  but  I  might 
as  well  have  been  in  America  for  seeing  or  hearing 
the  air  raid.  We  stayed  there  for  three-quarters 
of  an  hour,  and  then  went  back  to  the  flat  and 
watched  the  search-lights  from  the  bay-window  for 
a  few  minutes.  The  "all-clear"  policeman  had  n't 
come  along,  but  it  looked  as  if  the  raid  was  over. 
Traffic  in  the  street  below  seemed  normal,  and  the 
only  evidence  that  something  unusual  had  happened 
was  the  presence  of  groups  of  people,  including  a 
party  of  children,  staring  up  into  the  heavens. 
There  was  a  brilliant  moon,  but  the  light,  low-lying 
clouds  floated  about  in  the  sky.  Some  one  in  my 
party  remarked  that  they  "sinned  against  the 
moon." 

I  decided  to  go  to  bed,  but  before  I  went  to  sleep 
there  were  further  explosions.  I  stayed  in  my  flat 
this  time.  I  telephoned  several  newspaper  offices 
to  find  out  what  was  going  on.  From  one  came  the 
answer:  "Something  is  going  on,  and  we  rather 
think  it  is  serious,  but  we  have  no  reports  j^et."  I 
wish  I  were  permitted  to  specify  localities :  it  would 


262  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

make  the  answer  from  that  newspaper  office  very- 
interesting  for  its  proximity  to  damage  and  loss  of 
life. 

The  second  visit  of  the  Germans  was  brief,  and 
I  went  to  bed  and  to  sleep  without  knowing  the 
nearness  and  extent  of  the  danger.  The  next 
morning  when  I  visited  some  of  the  places  where 
the  forty  bombs  had  exploded,  I  realized  that  I  had 
been  immediately  in  the  path  of  the  German  planes, 
and  that  a  bomb  exploding  at  my  corner  would 
probably  have  killed  everybody  who  happened  to 
be  standing  at  a  window  in  the  vicinity.  The  ex- 
plosion carries  with  it  a  shower  of  shrapnel,  which 
smashes  window-panes,  and  the  broken  bits  of  glass 
are  as  fatal  as  the  shrapnel  itself.  The  bomb  that 
fell  at  the  hospital  entrance  broke  every  window- 
pane  in  the  block,  and  there  were  literally  hundreds 
of  shrapnel-scars  on  the  stone  and  brick  walls,  pits 
ranging  from  an  inch  to  six  inches  in  depth  and 
diameter. 

London,  September  7.  The  claim  made  by  Ad- 
miral von  S cheer  that  any  child  could  take  a  pencil 
and  a  piece  of  paper  and  reckon  the  destruction  of 
England  through  the  submarine,  and  the  general 
belief  in  Germany  that  Hindenburg  has  only  to  hold 
things  level  while  the  submarine  defeats  the  Allies, 
have  caused  fresh  discussion  of  this  all-important 
question  in  England,  though  with  intelligible  figures 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY        263 

lacking  and  only  the  jargon  of  sinkings  by  ship  to 
go  on. 

It  is  a  discussion  in  an  intellectual  vacuum.  The 
figures  published  by  "The  New  York  Times"  on 
July  19>  showing  an  average  monthly  loss  of  six 
hundred  thousand  tons,  constitute  the  only  real  in- 
formation that  has  reached  the  public  for  six 
months.  The  figures  quoted  by  the  prime  minister 
in  answer  to  questions  by  Kennedy  Jones  dealt 
with  British  shipping  only,  and  in  such  a  way  as 
to  be  very  confusing.  I  am  able  to  state  that  since 
the  period  dealt  with  by  the  figures  published  in 
"The  New  York  Times"  on  July  19,— namely,  the 
first  six  months  of  the  present  year, — there  has  been 
a  reduction  in  the  losses  at  the  rate  of  nearly  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  tons  a  month. 

A  number  of  different  elements  have  entered  into 
this  reduction,  but  undoubtedly  efficient  American 
cooperation  has  been  the  chief  single  element  in  it. 
The  convoy  system  is  working  as  well  as  can  be 
expected  in  view  of  the  shortage  in  escorting  vessels. 

The  absurd  reports  published  in  several  New 
York  newspapers  on  August  19,  quoting  Admirals 
Jellicoe  and  Sims  as  authority  for  the  warning,  that 
the  German  high-seas  fleet  may  elude  the  British 
cordon  and  strike  with  all  its  strength  in  American 
waters,  and  that  a  submarine  offensive  will  be  in- 
stituted by  Germany  on  the  American  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  are  believed  here  to  come  from  German 


264  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

sources,  and  to  be  put  out  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
venting the  dispatch  from  America  of  the  escorting 
vessels,  which  are  necessary  to  perfect  the  convoy 
system. 

Admirals  Jellicoe  and  Sims  are  both  known  to 
hold  views  absolutely  opposed  to  any  such  theory 
as  that  attributed  to  them  in  the  publication  of 
August  19.  All  respectable  naval  authority  here 
is  in  agi'cement  with  the  opinion  that  the  appear- 
ance of  any  kind  of  German  fleet  in  American 
waters,  or  that  a  serious  attack  of  any  sort  or  de- 
scription, is  utterly  out  of  the  question. 

Whether  such  reports  emanate  from  Germany  or 
whether  Germany's  purposes  are  unwittingly  served 
by  the  incompetent  in  America,  the  fact  remains 
that  all  naval  activities  are  now  centered  in  the  sub- 
marine zone  in  European  waters.  It  is  there  that 
the  Allied  naval  effort  must  be  concentrated.  It 
would  be  a  mistake  to  draw  too  much  encourage- 
ment from  the  reduction  in  the  tonnage  sunk  by 
German  submarines  in  July  and  August.  The  fa- 
vorable showing  is  partly  due  to  the  great  effort 
put  forth  by  Germany  in  the  month  of  April,  when 
the  figures  were  roundly  eight  hundred  thousand 
tons  in  four  weeks,  which  established  an  artificial 
basis  of  comparison.  In  the  first  six  months  there 
were  also  raider  losses  aggregating  151,000  tons. 
The  total  figures  for  the  six  months,  including 
raider  losses,  was  slightly  in  excess  of  3,600,000 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY         265 

tons,  not  including  steamers  damaged  or  beached, 
but  not  sunk.  Of  these  losses  in  the  first  six  months 
of  the  year  about  fifty-eight  per  cent,  were  British, 
twenty-five  per  cent,  neutral,  and  seventeen  per 
cent.  Alhed. 

When  the  losses  are  six  hundred  thousand  tons 
a  month  and  construction  is  two  hundred  thousand 
tons  a  month,  there  is  a  resultant  net-loss  of  four 
hundred  thousand  tons  a  month,  and  if  this  went 
on  long  enough,  Admiral  von  Scheer  would  be  jus- 
tified in  his  statement.  We  cannot  be  sure,  but  we 
can  fairly  hope,  that  the  reduction  shown  in  July 
and  August  will  be  maintained;  but  even  so  the 
Allies  would  still  be  taking  an  enormous  gambler's 
risk  unless  the  situation  were  greatly  improved  both 
in  respect  to  reduction  in  tonnage  sunk  and  con- 
struction of  new  tonnage. 

The  next  six  months  will  be  extremely  trying, 
and  it  is  of  the  highest  importance,  that  every  nerve 
be  strained  to  strengthen  convoy  protection  along 
the  lines  laid  down  by  the  Allied  naval  authorities. 
The  difference  between  strenuous  concentration  of 
effort  for  providing  adequate  escort  and  a  division 
of  resources  for  a  purelj^  imaginary  submarine  or 
raider  attack  by  Germany  in  American  waters 
might  prove  to  be  decisive  in  the  success  or  defeat 
of  Germany's  supreme  effort  with  the  U-boats. 

America  has  done  well  in  the  submarine  cam- 
paign, but  effort  should  be  constantly  increased. 


266  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

To  deal  with  big  realities  appeals  to  the  American 
spirit  and  the  submarine  campaign  is  the  very  heart 
of  the  European  War  situation.  Everything  that 
I  have  heard  in  Switzerland,  France,  and  England 
confirms  my  belief  that  Germany  is  building  her 
hopes  on  the  submarine,  and  the  very  moment  that 
destruction  of  shipping  is  reduced  to  a  point  any- 
where near  construction,  Berlin  will  beg  for  peace 
unless  victories  on  land  should  make  a  radical 
change  in  Germany's  position. 

London,  November  17.  The  message  sent  out 
by  the  Associated  Press,  giving  the  opinion  of  an 
English  journalist  now  in  America  to  the  effect 
that  last  week's  showing  marked  the  definite  and 
conclusive  defeat  of  the  submarine  is  much  depre- 
cated in  circles  here  which  understand  the  realities 
of  submarine  warfare.  It  is  regretted  that  such 
importance  should  be  attached  to  a  single  week's 
return.  Those  who  understand  tlie  subject  best 
state  that  there  is  just  as  much  reason  to  generalize 
in  the  reverse  direction.  "More  likely  they  are 
spitting  on  their  hands  for  the  next  go,"  said  an 
American  to-day.  While  there  is  general  grat- 
ification at  the  unique  figure,  the  event  is  being  cele- 
brated as  isolated  and  casual  rather  than  as  mark- 
ing final  victory  over  the  submarine. 

The  common  sense  of  the  situation  clearly  is  that 
while  distinct  progi'ess  has  been  made  in  fighting 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY        267 

the  submarine,  we  are  still  far  from  safe.  In  the 
month  of  October  the  rate  of  destruction  was  con- 
siderably higher  than  in  September,  a  fact  that  dis- 
poses of  the  ill-founded  view  that  the  submarine 
chapter  of  the  war  is  closed.  The  under-sea  op- 
erations have  a  pendulum-like  movement.  August 
was  comparatively  heavj^  September  showed  a  big 
drop,  the  actual  figures  for  four  weeks  being  even 
lower  than  the  estimate  I  cabled  to  the  "Times" 
from  Paris  on  October  9.  The  Germans  must  have 
become  alarmed  and  made  extra  efforts,  for  toward 
the  end  of  October  the  English  and  American  de- 
fenders observed  a  greater  number  of  submarines 
at  work  on  the  Atlantic  than  had  ever  before  been 
known,  though  owing  to  the  organized  defense  the 
aggregate  sinkings  totaled  only  one  half  the  high 
mark  of  April. 

The  Germans  evidently  exhausted  themselves  in 
the  October  effort,  as  the  low  returns  in  the  early 
part  of  November  clearly  indicate.  The  boats 
broke  down,  the  crews  were  worn  out,  and  the  effect 
of  the  strain  was  otherwise  shown.  The  delicate 
machinery  constantly  needs  repair,  and  crews  to 
man  the  submarines  are  increasingly  difficult  to 
obtain.  We  are  experiencing  a  similar  difficulty 
in  America,  where,  despite  the  inexhaustible  amount 
of  raw  man-power,  men  for  the  new  destroyers  com- 
ing out  shortty  are  hard  to  get. 

The  best  opinion  here  is  that  such  optimism  a§ 


268  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

is  displayed  in  the  despatch  above  referred  to  will 
have  a  mischievous  effect.  If  America  accepted 
that  dictmn,  it  would  certainly  turn  out  to  be  the 
reverse  of  true.  The  submarine  is  not  only  not 
yet  unbeaten,  but  can  be  defeated  only  by  the  most 
strenuous  sort  of  effort,  with  America  and  England 
working  shoulder  to  shoulder. 

The  men  who  have  been  sent  here  to  study  the 
subject  and  cooperate  with  England  are  doing  fine 
work  to  that  end.  They  bring  the  American  point 
of  view  to  London  and  impress  it  on  the  British, 
and  they  w^ill  take  home  a  full  understanding  of  the 
most  important  single  subject  of  the  war,  and  will 
be  prepared  to  enlighten  Washington's  efforts. 
None  of  those  making  this  study  minimizes  the 
seriousness  of  the  situation  or  attaches  more  than 
casual  insignificance  to  one  week's  figures.  I  can 
state  as  the  general  impression  of  many  experts  that 
if  England  and  America  stick  right  to  it  strenuously 
and  sleeplessly,  and  a  fair  average  of  luck  attends 
their  efforts,  we  shall  put  the  submarine  danger  be- 
hind us  about  the  middle  of  1918.  We  must  always 
reckon  with  the  possibility  of  Germany's  springing 
some  kind  of  surprise,  but  there  has  been  oppor- 
tunity to  take  the  measure  of  the  new  submarine 
cruiser,  the  forerunner  of  the  craft  which  Berlin 
intimated  was  to  be  let  loose  on  the  high  seas  in 
great  number  as  successors  to  the  Seeadlers  and 
Moewes.     One  of  these  craft  has  been  actually 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY         269 

cruising  for  sixty  days  on  the  high  Atlantic,  and 
its  entire  bag  totals  five  ships,  two  of  them  small 
Brazilians.  They  cannot  duplicate  the  Seeadler's 
feats,  because  they  cannot  have  both  a  large  cruising 
radius  and  speed,  and  as  the  designers  considered 
the  cruising  radius  primarily  essential,  the  sub- 
marine sent  out  as  a  demonstrator  found  the  sea 
too  big  for  good  hunting  at  slow  speed. 

The  Germans  probably  keep  closer  to  realities 
in  the  submarine  campaign  than  we  do.  They  are 
undoubtedly  having  much  difficulty  in  sustaining 
their  activities.  They  are  aware  that  Italy  and 
Russia  cannot  save  them  if  their  submarine  power 
is  broken.  They  know  that  in  eight  or  ten  months 
the  Allies'  building  programme  of  airplanes,  de- 
stroyers, and  cargo-ships  will  put  the  submarines 
out  of  business  as  a  determining  factor.  Hence 
their  activity  on  all  fronts,  and  especially  the  present 
desperate  effort  to  win  the  war  game  by  taking  the 
ball  round  the  end  in  Italy. 

September  9.  London  is  packed  and  jammed 
with  people.  No  such  crowds  have  ever  been  seen 
here  before.  In  business  hours  I  think  that  Oxford 
Street,  between  Oxford  Circus  and  the  Marble 
Arch,  shows  the  greatest  congestion.  -At  night  and. 
on  holidays  the  press  of  humanity  centers  in  the 
Strand  between  Trafalgar  Square  and  the  law 
courts.     In   this   latter  region  the   soldiers   fore- 


270    FLASHES  FROM  THE  FROK^T 

gather.  Frequently  each  laddie  has  his  lassie. 
The  Strand  is  often  so  crowded  that  the  pedestrian 
traffic  overflows  to  the  roadway. 

One  interesting  feature  of  the  crowd  is  the  great 
number  of  women  carrying  babies,  usually  very 
small  ones.  It  seems  to  me  that  I  can  notice  a 
different  expression  from  what  the  young  mother 
used  to  wear  when  seen  cariying  a  child  in  public. 
Instead  of  looking  gloomy  or  depressed,  she  seems 
radiant.  This  is  a  change  which,  if  it  has  actually 
taken  place  on  a  sufficient  scale  to  authorize  gen- 
eralization, must  be  attributable  in  some  subtle  way 
to  the  psychology  of  the  war. 

London,  September  17.  In  France,  where  one 
comes  into  contact  with  the  army  chiefly,  an  im- 
pression lodges  in  the  mind  that  this  war  might  be 
brought  to  an  end  if  only  the  Allied  navies  would 
"go  to  it."  In  London  the  atmosphere  is  distinctly 
naval.  I  did  not  get  a  chance  to  advance  the  char- 
acteristic land-lubber  point  of  view  more  than  about 
a  minute  before  the  argument  was  taken  up  in  vig- 
orous sailorman  fashion.  "Why  don't  the  English 
and  American  ships  go  in  and  clean  them  up?  If 
success  or  failure  right  now  hinges  on  the  U-boat, 
why  not  send  naval  forces  to  batter  to  bits  the  bases 
on  the  channel  coast?  Expensive,  yes,  but  what 
are  ships  for  but  to  be  risked  and  lost?" 

The  counter-attack  was  so  sudden  and  sharp  that 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY        ^11 

I  am  afraid  I  put  rather  more  of  the  onus  upon 
the  absent  army  critic  than  was  altogether  fair, 
whereat  a  navy  man  wlio  does  n't  think  meanly  of 
his  own  literary  accomplishments  undertook  to  pre- 
pare for  my  signature  a  letter  stating  the  case  in 
such  simple  terms  as  would  leave  no  room  for  mis- 
understanding, and  here  is  what  he  wrote : 

Since  my  return  from  Switzerland  a  few  weeks  ago  I  have 
been  looking  into  the  submarine  situation  again.  You  may 
have  seen  in  "The  Times"  some  of  my  articles  concerning  the 
present  shipping  situation,  which  is,  as  you  doubtless  know, 
still  so  serious  that  no  effort  should  be  spared  to  diminish  the 
loss  and  increase  the  amount  of  tonnage. 

I  intend  to  pound  away  at  this  until  its  significance  is  more 
generally  understood  in  America,  where  the  political  speeches 
of  Mr.  Lloyd  George  tend  to  create  a  dangerous  optimism. 

In  the  meantime  there  is  another  feature  of  this  business 
which  exercises  no  inconsiderable  influence  upon  public  opin- 
ion, and  that  is  the  influence  of  the  inevitable  mob  strategy, 
which  manifests  itself  in  all  eases  of  prolonged  and  serious 
war  operations. 

Few  persons  refrain  from  expressing  opinions  as  to  how 
the  enemy  could  be  routed.  All  respectable  newspaper  ed- 
itors must  supply  their  readers  with  such  opinions,  and  with 
criticism  of  the  responsible  military  leaders. 

Many  suggestions  as  to  how  to  end  the  war  are  published, 
and  thousands  are  submitted  to  the  authorities.  These  are 
variations  of  schemes  indicated  by  various  catch-phrases.  Of 
these  Winston  Churchill's  "Digging  the  rats  out  of  their  holes" 
is  the  chief.  Another  very  seductive  one  is,  "Why  not  stop 
up  the  hole  in  the  nest  instead  of  chasing  the  wasps  after  they 
are  out?" 


272  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

The  influence  of  these  and  similar  phrases  is  such  that  even 
educated  men  do  not  hesitate  to  criticize  the  strategy,  and 
even  the  common  sense  and  courage,  of  the  Allies,  and  as  this 
tends  to  diminish  efforts  already  under  way,  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  obtain  some  facts  and  authoritative  opinions  on  the 
subject.  These  have  proved  so  very  illuminating  and  are  so 
readily  comprehended,  even  by  the  civilian  mind,  that  I  am 
sure  that  they  will  interest  you. 

1. — In  order  to  "dig  the  rats  out"  or  "stop  up  the  hole  in 
the  wasp's  nest,"  the  German  bases  of  their  fleet  and  sub- 
marines must  be  taken  by  attack  from  the  sea. 

2. — This  can  be  done  only  by  reducing  by  bombardment  the 
fortifications  that  protect  the  bases. 

3. — The  guns  of  modern  land  defenses  are  not  visible  from 
the  sea.  Many  of  them  are  powerful  mortars  at  the  bottom 
of  pits.  Ships,  of  course,  are  clearly  visible  from  shore  bat- 
teries and  their  captive  balloons  and  airplanes. 

4. — The  effective  range  of  these  guns  is  over  twenty-three 
miles.  This  has  been  shown  by  actual  shooting  at  ships  in 
this  war. 

5. — No  man-of-war's  gun  has  a  range  of  more  than  seven- 
teen miles,  and  the  enemy  target  is  invisible. 

6. — It  is  therefore  apparent  that  a  naval  attack  from  the 
sea  would  be  even  more  suicidal  now  than  in  Nelson's  day. 

7. — It  might  be  compared  to  a  blind  pugilist  with  arms  two 
feet  long,  trying  to  fight  one  with  good  eyesight  and  with  arms 
three  feet  long. 

8. — Coast  positions,  large  areas  (like  Bruges  and  Zee- 
brugge),  are  bombarded  from  time  to  time;  but  this  can  be 
done  only  at  very  infrequent  intervals  when  the  wind  is  in  the 
right  direction  for  screens  to  be  laid  to  mask  the  bombarding 
vessels. 

9. — Few  civilians  know  the  above  facts,  which  have  been 
developed  during  this  war,  but  I  have  yet  to  meet  a  single 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY        273 

responsible  officer  who  believes  that  it  is  possible  to  reduce 
land  defenses  by  a  sea  attack.  All  competent  naval  historians 
express  the  same  opinion. 

10. — But  even  assuming  that  this  were  possible,  a  glance 
at  the  map  will  show  that  the  German  fleet  and  submarine 
bases  could  not  be  approached  by  shipping  unless  the  powerful 
defenses  of  Heligoland  were  destroyed  and  the  island  captured 
and  held. 

11. — But  even  assuming  that  this  island  were  turned  over 
to  the  Allies  with  all  its  defenses  intact,  it  would  not  be  held 
as  a  base  by  them,  because,  being  only  a  few  miles  from  the 
German  bases,  it  could  be  attacked  every  night  and  all  night 
by  numerous  airplanes  carrying  bombs  of  over  two  hundred 
pounds.     Heligoland  is  one  mile  long  by  one-half  mile  wide. 

12. — There  is  practically  no  defense  against  such  night 
raids.  In  the  recent  midnight  raid  on  London  only  two  of 
the  numerous  anti-aircraft  guns  even  saw  the  planes. 

13. — Moreover,  the  island  could  be  successfully  bombed  by 
daylight,  because  the  Allies  could  not  bring  to  bear  enough 
fighting-planes  to  resist  the  overwhelmingly  greater  number 
that  could  be  sent  from  the  near-by  German  bases  to  protect 
the  bombing-planes. 

14. — There  has  been  a  recent  naval  conference  in  London 
in  which  all  the  principal  Allied  countries  were  represented. 
Their  conclusions  have  not  been  published,  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  no  member  present  believed  that  "the  rats  could  be 
dug  out  of  their  holes." 

15. — Many  schemes  have  been  proposed  for  building  a  mine 
or  net  barrage,  or  both,  to  prevent  the  German  submarines 
from  coming  out  of  or  going  into  their  bases.  Many  attempts 
have  been  made,  but  up  to  the  present  time  it  has  not  been 
found  possible  to  prevent  submarines  from  passing  through 
the  narrow  strip  of  water  between  Calais  and  Dover,  yet  it 
has  seriously  been  proposed  by  all  sorts   and  conditions   of 


274  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

people  to  build  a  barrage  from  Scotland  to  Norway,  over  a 
distance  of  about  230  miles,  in  very  deep  water  and  across  a 
strong  tide. 

It  is,  of  course,  unnecessary  to  state  that  the  assumptions  of 
sufficient  knowledge  to  decide  how  the  naval  war  should  be 
conducted  on  this  side  presuppose  a  condition  of  mind  that  I 
cannot  well  understand.  The  Allied  nations  have  been  fight- 
ing three  years  for  their  very  existence.  When  the  civilian 
sees  that  his  particular  task  of  the  strategy  of  the  situation 
has  not  been  carried  out,  ought  he  not  naturally  to  assume 
that  there  must  be  impelling  reasons  why  this  is  so? 

But  the  civilian  critic  makes  the  opposite  assumption.  He 
is  absolutely  convinced  that  his  ideas  are  right.  They  could 
be  right  only  on  the  assumption,  that  the  combined  military 
experience  of  all  the  Allies  was  not  sufficient  to  comprehend 
what  seems  so  apparent  to  him,  or  else  that  seeing  the  situa- 
tion as  he  does,  they  lack  the  energy  and  courage  to  carry  out 
the  appropriate  measures.  No  other  condition  would  appear 
possible  to  a  man  who  knows  anything  about  history. 

In  view  of  the  divergence  of  opinion  between  the 
two  services,  to  say  nothing  of  the  irrepressible  con- 
flict of  theory  within  the  navj^  the  foregoing  state- 
ment of  the  ideas  upon  which  present  poHcy  is 
grounded  should  be  interesting. 

The  other  day  I  had  a  chance  for  personal  obser- 
vation of  the  wave  of  domestic  economy  sweeping 
over  England.  I  went  with  Lord  Northcliffe  to 
see  the  lord  chief -justice  bid  adieu  to  the  bench  and 
bar.  On  the  way  we  were  to  stop  at  the  North- 
cliffe home,  and  instead  of  going  to  St.  James's 
Place,  as  of  old,  the  driver  was  told  to  go  to  Number 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY        275 

8,  Buckingham  Street.  We  passed  in  front  of 
Buckingham  Palace  turning  to  the  left  near  the 
Hotel  Rubens,  and  then  left  again  into  a  street  that 
was  more  alley  than  street.  We  drew  up  in  front 
of  a  row  of  small  tenement  houses,  and  Lord  North- 
cliife  got  out,  saying,  "This  is  my  home,  and  the 
next  door  but  one  is  Lord  Lytton's."  I  was  ex- 
tremely interested  and  went  inside  to  see  more  of 
this  change  of  state  as  compared  with  St.  James's 
Place. 

On  the  fii'st  floor  there  was  a  room  about  eighteen 
feet  square,  which  was  the  dining-room,  furnished 
neatly  and  plainly;  in  the  rear  was  a  "den,"  and 
then  a  largish  hall  with  a  stairway.  The  house 
fronts  about  twenty-five  feet  and  has  three  stories. 
I  should  say  that  a  hundred  dollars  a  month  would 
be  pretty  stiff  rent  for  it. 

"What  did  you  do  with  the  fine  house  in  St. 
James's  Place?"  I  asked. 

"We  let  it  to  a  man  who  had  spent  five  million 
dollars  building  a  magnificent  house.  It  was  too 
expensive  to  maintain  in  war-time,  so  the  owner 
closed  it  up  and  came  down  to  what  he  regarded 
as  contraction  and  economy  in  St.  James's  Place. 
We,  in  tm'n,  moved  to  this  little  house,  displacing 
people  who  find  a  flat  good  enough,  and  their  pred- 
ecessors in  the  flat  doubtless  occupy  lodgings.  We 
keep  three  servants  here  when  we  can  get  them. 
With  the  money  saved  by  Hving  in  Buckingham 


276  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

Street  instead  of  St.  James's  Place,  Lady  North- 
cliff  e  is  able  to  keep  and  support  a  hospital  of  her 
own.  So,  far  from  finding  it  a  deprivation,  my 
wife  and  I  like  it.  It  is  less  trouble,  and  there  are 
fewer  complications." 

December  31.  Private  control  of  railroads  in 
England  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  Government  con- 
trol was  adopted  as  a  war  measure  in  August,  1914. 
It  has  worked  so  well  that  the  principle  will  be  re- 
tained when  peace  returns.  So  much  is  certain. 
When  the  war  broke  out,  the  Government  had  to 
get  immediate  control  of  the  carriers  in  order  fully 
to  command  facilities  for  transporting  troops,  arms, 
and  supplies.  There  was  not  time  for  elaborating 
a  plan,  so  the  roads  were  just  taken  over  in  the 
simplest  way. 

The  net  earnings  of  the  previous  year  (1913) 
were  guaranteed,  with  certain  minor  deductions,  for 
the  whole  period  of  government  control,  and  the 
ten  general  managers  of  the  larger  systems  were 
constituted  an  executive  committee  with  entire 
managerial  charge. 

The  whole  scheme  falls  under  the  department  of 
commerce  and  transportation,  known  here  as  the 
Board  of  Trade;  but  that  body  names  a  member 
of  the  committee  of  ten — Sir  Herbert  Walker — as 
its  representative,  holding  for  itself  only  reserve 
powers  of  control. 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY        277 

When  the  new  order  set  up  in  the  hurry  and  con- 
fusion of  that  fateful  August  shook  down  to  some- 
thing hke  permanency,  the  managers  were  sur- 
prised to  find  what  a  good  arrangement  it  was. 
Now,  after  well  over  two  years  of  trying  out,  there 
is  a  practical  unanimity  in  the  opinion  that  the  old 
conditions  will  never  be  entirely  restored. 

Those  railroad  heads  in  America  who  do  not  need 
Dr.  Vanderlip's  prescription  for  hardened  arteries 
and  who,  like  the  doctor  himself,  are  ever  scanning 
far  horizons  for  signs  of  the  times,  have  been  watch- 
ing the  experience  of  England  for  such  light  as  it 
may  throw  upon  the  serious  problems  which  con- 
front the  carriers  on  that  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

It  happens  that  there  is  one  man  in  the  railroad 
service  in  this  country  who  can  speak  comparatively 
and  with  autliority  of  railroads  in  America  and  in 
England.  He  is  the  general  manager  of  the  Great 
Eastern,  Henry  W.  Thornton,  a  product  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  school,  and,  before  coming 
here  two  and  a  half  years  ago,  for  some  time  general 
superintendent  of  the  Long  Island  Railroad.  As 
general  manager  of  the  Great  Eastern  his  position 
corresponds  to  that  of  a  railway  president  in  Amer- 
ica, his  responsibility  being  directly  to  the  board  of 
directors. 

Mr.  Thornton  is  one  of  the  Executive  Committee 
operating  the  roads,  each  member  of  which  has  the 
military  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.     I  may  add 


278  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

that  Colonel  Thornton  has  won  the  regard  and 
confidence  not  only  of  the  Great  Eastern  interests, 
but  of  the  British  public.  He  brings  with  him  the 
American  push  and  go,  but  fits  into  his  new  environ- 
ment as  if  to  the  manner  born. 

"The  arrangement  between  the  Government  and 
the  railroad  companies,"  said  Mr.  Thornton,  in  re- 
ply to  my  inquiries,  "has  proved  a  good  bargain  for 
everybody.  Under  it  stockholders  receive  the  same 
return,  with  some  minor  deductions,  that  they  had 
in  1913,  upon  which  year  the  bargain  was  based. 
The  Government  in  turn  fares  well,  because  the 
hauling  done  for  it,  if  it  had  been  paid  for  at  the 
regular  rates,  would  have  amounted  to  a  great  deal 
more  than  the  difference  between  the  present  earn- 
ings and  what  it  costs  to  run  the  railroads  and  pay 
the  stockholders." 

"Will  the  old  condition  ever  be  restored?" 
"Never,"  replied  Mr.  Thornton,  with  emphasis. 
"The  position  will  be  different  after  the  war,  but 
exactly  what  it  will  be  nobody  can  tell.  It  will 
probably  be  something  like  semi-nationalization  or 
government  partnership.  I  do  not  think  that  either 
railroad  shareholders  or  the  Government  need  be 
anxious  about  the  future  condition.  It  will  be 
better  than  the  old  relation,  because  we  have  had 
an  opportunity  to  develop  the  subject  under  con- 
ditions which  were  pecuharly  favorable  to  this  pur- 
pose.    We  ought  to  work  out  something  that  has 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY        270 

all  the  advantages  and  none  of  the  disadvantages 
of  government  ownership." 

When  asked  to  comment  on  the  situation  in 
America,  Mr.  Thornton  said  that,  disregarding  the 
position  in  England,  and  looking  at  it  only  as  ap- 
plicable to  the  United  States,  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  seemed  to  him  to  labor  under 
the  disadvantage  that  it  was  too  far  away  from  its 
subject.  It  was  like  a  judge  on  the  bench:  it  did 
not  share  in  the  consequences  of  its  acts;  its  re- 
sponsibihty  was  an  academic  one. 

The  railroad  interest,  according  to  Mr.  Thornton, 
divides  itself  into  four  distinct  parts. 

1. — The  interest  of  the  shippers. 

2. — The  railway  staff,  including  labor  and  all 
employees. 

3. — The  proprietors,  including  the  shareholders 
and  bondholders,  and  the  general  financing. 

4. — The  Government,  which  in  Europe  already 
has,  and  in  America  will  come  to  have,  a  military 
interest. 

The  various  interests  are  diverse  and  often  in 
sharp  opposition.  The  shippers  always  want  low 
rates  and  care  nothing  about  the  other  interests; 
the  shareholders  look  to  dividends;  the  employees 
want  more  wages,  and  do  not  woiTy  themselves 
about  the  other  points  of  view;  the  Government 
had  a  many-sided  interest,  which  msiy  be  one  thing 
to-day  and  quite  another  thing  to-morrow.     Its 


280  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

main  interest,  of  course,  is  to  represent  the  general 
public,  from  which  all  railway  revenue  must  be  de- 
rived. 

"The  problem  is  to  bring  all  these  factors  to- 
gether," said  Mr.  Thornton,  "so  that  they  will  ap- 
preciate the  different  points  of  view  instead  of  al- 
ways standing  each  for  its  own.  My  study  of  the 
American  problem  has  carried  me  almost  to  the 
conviction  that  instead  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  there  should  be  a  body  composed  of 
men  representing  the  four  interests  to  which  I  have 
referred. 

"It  might  be  well  to  carry  the  scheme  even  nearer 
to  government  control.  Assuming  some  form  of 
financial  participation  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment, there  is  at  once  a  stabilizing  of  railway  se- 
curities. They  are  taken  out  of  the  field  of  spec- 
ulation. The  raising  of  capital  becomes  easy  and 
its  hire  cheap.  The  Government  has  then  a  stake 
in  the  proposition.  Moreover,  each  of  the  interests 
involved  watches  the  other,  and  sees  that  no  interest 
gets  more  than  its  share." 

"What  about  the  general  public  in  this  scheme 
of  control  and  management?"  Mr.  Thornton  was 
asked. 

"The  public  is  represented  by  the  Government, 
and  that  ought  to  be  adequate  in  a  democracy. 
What  I  have  outlined  in  the  way  of  a  possible 
solution  of  the  railway  problem  in  America  may 


GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  BAY        281 

not  fit  when  laid  down  on  the  ground,  but  it  seems 
to  me  that  you  have  got  to  devise  some  scheme 
of  automatic  justice  in  a  railway  management,  or 
else  you  will  have  a  breakdown  somewhere  that 
will  be  very  serious  in  its  effects  on  the  whole 
country. 

"Our  problem  in  England  is  much  easier,  be- 
cause it  is  simpler  here  than  it  is  in  America  to  con- 
centrate authority.  I  have  no  doubt  that  if  the 
reorganization  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission were  attempted,  there  would  be  a  general 
demand  to  have  local  bodies  with  subordinate  au- 
thority in  the  various  sections.  That  would  have 
its  advantages,  but  it  would  interfere  with  concen- 
tration of  authority  and  ease  of  control. 

"The  big  thing,  it  seems  to  me,  is  that  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  should  have  a  real  and 
practical  interest  in  the  administration.  For  ex- 
ample, in  the  labor  fight  recently  neither  the  Pres- 
ident nor  Congress  was  directly  interested  in  what 
happened  after  the  settlement  was  secured;  what 
they  wanted  was  to  get  from  under  the  difficulty. 
A  continuing  body,  charged  with  permanent  re- 
sponsibility, would  have  an  entirely  different  out- 
look on  the  question. 

"A  body  composed  of  the  best  available  men, 
appointed  for  life  and  adequately  paid,  would  be 
in  a  position  to  get  the  best  results.  For  example, 
a  labor  leader  (and  there  are  many  good  ones  in 


282  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

America)  might  go  into  this  body  prejudiced,  but 
his  association  with  the  others  would  broaden  and 
mellow  him.  Precisely  the  same  thing  could  be  said 
of  the  representative  of  capital. 

"It  has  worked  that  way  in  England.  Never 
anywhere  has  there  existed  such  severe  competition 
as  there  was  here  among  the  railroads,  and  yet  the 
ten  general  managers,  when  brought  together  to 
operate  the  railroads  of  England,  have  all  come 
to  see  one  another's  point  of  view,  and  as  a  matter 
of  practical  experience,  every  decision  reached  by 
them  has  been  unanimous." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   NIVELLE   OFFENSIVE 

Paris,  February  27.  The  article  entitled  "The 
Battle  of  1917,"  which  appears  in  "Collier's"  of 
January  5,  just  received  in  France,  purporting  to 
give  a  true  account  of  General  Nivelle's  offensive 
on  April  16,  1917,  may  cause  considerable  mischief 
unless  corrected.  Aside  from  the  injustice  to  the 
Ribot  IMinistiy,  and  M.  Painleve  in  particular, 
against  which  ]M.  Painleve  has  already  entered  his 
protest,  the  article  puts  the  French  Government  in 
a  false  position. 

The  main  contention  of  the  writer  is  that  the 
French  Government  stopped  the  whole  offensive, 
despite  the  British  Government,  because  of  a  panic 
into  which  members  of  the  French  parliament  pres- 
ent at  the  Chemin  des  Dames  on  April  16  and  see- 
ing war  slaughter  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives 
were  thrown.  Collier's  story  says  that  these  pol- 
iticians returned  to  Paris  that  night,  and  that  their 
alarmist  pressure  subsequently  induced  Painleve, 
then  minister  of  war,  to  call  off  the  offensive  move- 
ment when  the  Germans  were  about  to  retreat  to  the 
Meuse. 

283 


284.    FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

I  have  investigated  this  statement  carefully  and 
found  it  untrue.  With  the  collapse  of  this  claim, 
the  whole  structure  of  the  story  falls  to  the  ground. 
The  main  contention  being  disproved,  the  rest  of 
the  article  becomes  mere  gossip,  some  of  it  having 
elements  of  truth,  but  much  of  it  imaginary  and 
inaccurate. 

The  only  excuse  for  going  back  to  Nivelle's 
offensive  would  be  the  righting  of  some  wrong  so 
great  that,  if  unrighted,  it  would  interfere  with 
Allied  success.  As  the  Paris  government  did  not 
order  the  Nivelle  offensive  stopped,  no  such  wrong 
could  have  been  committed.  The  discussion  is, 
therefore,  purely  a  discussion  of  why  Nivelle  failed, 
and  is  simply  raking  over  the  dead  embers  of  the 
past  without  good  purpose  and,  indeed,  with  very 
pernicious  possibilities. 

If  Nivelle  or  his  friends  have  permitted  disap- 
pointment and  chagrin  to  drive  him  into  fomenting 
a  controversy,  that  fact  brings  new  justification  of 
the  action  of  the  French  Government  when  for  the 
best  of  reasons  it  removed  him  from  command  as 
not  being  a  big  enough  man  for  the  job.  The 
greatest  opportunity  which  any  general  has  had 
in  this  war  was  given  to  him.  He  asked  for  power 
to  organize  and  execute  a  tremendous  attaque 
brusque  as  a  climax  and  finale  of  all  the  secondary 
and  preparatory  movements.  That  power  he  re- 
ceived.    He  had  the  limit  prescribed  by  himself. 


THE  NIVELLE  OFFENSIVE       285 

His  offensive  failed.  There  was  no  order  from 
Paris  that  it  should  be  stopped.  It  was  stopped  by 
its  own  failure. 

Various  elements  that  enter  into  this  failure  could 
be  the  subject  of  interesting  discussion,  but  once 
it  is  admitted,  as  it  must  be,  that  the  war  office  did 
not  interfere,  the  matter  loses  all  color  of  scandal, 
and  discussion  can  proceed  in  an  entirely  different 
vein.  If  Nivelle's  generals  were  doubtful  of  the 
soundness  of  his  plans,  he  cannot  blame  others  for 
it.  Actually,  he  set  out  on  a  path  that  only  a 
genius  might  dare  to  tread,  and  fell.  The  effort 
to  shift  its  blame  to  other  shoulders  cannot  be  made 
good. 

In  the  appended  parallel  columns  I  have  con- 
trasted the  facts  with  various  statements  made  in 
the  article  in  "Collier's." 

First  colunm  gives  statements  made  in  "Col- 
lier's"; the  second  column  gives  the  facts  of  the 
case. 


1.  This  offensive  was  really 
a  great  French  victory. 


2.  On  Jan.  15,  1917,  there 
was      an     allied     council     in 


1.  It  was  not  a  great 
victory,  but  a  succes  d'es- 
time,  creditable  to  the  courage 
of  the  French  soldiers,  but 
costing  dear  in  men,  and  it 
fell  far  short  of  the  ambitious 
hopes  with  which  the  plan  of 
operations  was  conceived. 

2.  This  is  the  initial  gross 
error  by  which  the  value  of 


286  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 


London,  attended  by  Lloyd 
George,  Bonar  Law,  Generals 
Haig  and  Nivelle,  Premier 
Ribot,  and  the  French  War 
Minister,  M.  Painleve. 


3.  (Missing  from  the  cable 
dispatch,  supplied  from  the 
published  article.)  Follow- 
ing is  his  (Nivelle's)  plan: 
The  chief  French  attack  .  .  . 
was  shifted  to  the  Valley  of 
the  Aisne  over  east  of  Sois- 
isons.  .  .  .  Wliile  this  front 
was,  therefore,  to  be  the  chief 
French  offensive  sector,  the 
other  main  point  of  the  battle 
was  to  be  conducted  far  to  the 
north  by  the  English  troops 
before  Lens  and  stretching 
down  to  Arras. 

There  was  to  be  a  second- 
ary English  attack  before 
Bapaume;  further  to  the 
south,  and  just  below  that,  a 
secondary  French  attack  was 
planned,        under        General 


the  whole  story  can  be  meas- 
ured. At  that  time  M.  Ribot 
was  not  premier,  but  M.  .Bri- 
and.  M,  Painleve  was  not 
even  a  member  of  the  French 
Government.  M.  Lyautey 
was  war  minister.  M.  Pain- 
leve only  became  war  minister 
on  March  20.  M.  Painleve 
did  not  enter  the  Briand  gov- 
ernment of  December,  1916, 
because  his  views  on  military 
questions  were  different. 

3.  The  important  point  is 
that  Nivelle's  Aisne  attack 
was  a  definite,  deliberate  at- 
tempt to  break  the  German 
lines.  He  was  trying  to  re- 
peat on  a  seventy-five-mile 
front — at  a  point  where  the 
broken  nature  of  the  ground 
rendered  the  German  posi- 
tions exceptionally  strong — 
what  had  been  done  on  a  six- 
mile  front  at  Verdun.  He 
proposed  to  burst  right 
through,  capture  the  German 
heavy  artillery,  and  fight  an 
open  battle.  According  to 
the  plan,  the  French  cavalry 
ouglit  to  be  at  Laon  on  the 
evening  of  the  first  day  and 
the  infantry  reach  the  line  of 
the    Oise — a    forty-mile    ad- 


THE  NIVELLE  OFFENSIVE      287 


Franchet  d'Esperey,  between 
Roye  and  the  Oise,  Thus  it 
is  easy  to  follow  the  gigantic 
conception  of  this  battle.  It 
was  to  be  so  big  it  could 
never  be  known  by  a  single 
name.  In  fact,  it  was  called 
by  Nivelle  "The  Battle  of 
1917."  It  was  to  be  the 
battle  of  decision  that  would 
end  the  war. 

Far  north  the  hammer  was 
to  strike  first.  The  English 
were  to  lead  off;  then  the 
secondary  blows,  both  English 
and  French,  were  to  follow  on 
succeeding  days,  with  the  last 
move  to  be  made  by  the  main 
French  forces  in  the  east.  It 
was  the  belief  of  Haig  and 
Nivelle  that  by  these  great 
converging  attacks  the  centre 
of  the  German  line  must  re- 
tire. But  the  conception  of 
Nivelle  was  even  bigger  than 
all  this,  for  it  included  a  third 
phase  of  the  English  attack, 
which  was  to  spread  further 
north  into  Flanders.  This 
actually  did  happen  —  but 
three  months  late. 


vance — on  the  fourth  day. 
The  success  of  the  operation 
depended  on  the  violence  and 
rapidity  of  the  attack.  If  the 
rupture  was  not  obtained  in 
twenty-four,  or  at  most  forty- 
eight  hours,  the  attack  was  to 
be  abandoned  as  involving 
heavy  losses  without  useful 
results.  Such  was  Nivelle's 
plan.  If  this  rupture  of- 
fensive did  not  succeed,  it 
ought,  according  to  General 
Nivelle,  to  be  abandoned  at 
the  end  of  the  second  day. 
The  grand  attack  failed  and 
was  spontaneously  abandoned 
— through  sheer  impossibility 
to  continue  it — by  Nivelle 
himself  on  April  18. 

Another  important  point  is 
that  in  the  original  plan  one 
of  the  essential  conditions  for 
the  success  of  the  rupture  of- 
fensive had  been  simultane- 
ous attacks  by  the  Russian 
and  Italian  armies.  This 
condition  was  not  fulfilled. 
On  the  contrary,  the  Germans 
brought  troops  from  Russia 
until  at  the  moment  the  battle 
began  they  had  one  hundred 
and  fifty-three  divisions  in 
line,  thirty  more  than  at  the 


288  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 


4.  Why  did  not  these  two 
French  armies  pierce  and 
even  smash  the  German  line? 
The  answer  to  the  question  is 
this:  By  nightfall  of  April 
16  the  French  armies  were 
no  longer  under  military 
authority,  but  were  in  a  do- 
main purely  political. 


battle  of  the  Somme.  Thus 
Nivelle's  plan  from  the  out- 
set was  facing  circumstances 
which  diminished  the  chance 
of  success. 

4.  The  French  armies  did 
not  pierce  the  German  line  for 
the  following  reasons: 

A. — It  was  impossible  to 
concentrate  sufficient  artillery 
on  such  a  wide  front  to  insure 
adequate  destruction  of  the 
defense  system. 

B. — Broken  ground,  nu- 
merous steep  ravines,  deep 
grottos,  and  masked  clumps 
of  trees  afforded  ideal  shelter 
for  the  German  gim  and  mi- 
trailleuse positions. 

C. — Lack  of  dominant  "ob- 
servatories" on  the  French 
side  made  it  necessary  to  de- 
pend solely  on  airplanes  for 
artillery  observation,  and  the 
bad  weather  which  prevailed 
at  the  time  of  the  attack 
rendered  what  chance  of 
success  the  effort  might  have 
had  infinitely  smaller. 

D.  As  M.  Herve  stated 
in  "La  Victoire"  of  April  5, 
the  Germans  captured  a  non- 
commissioned officer  near 
Sapigneul  and  they  found  on 


THE  NIVELLE  OFFENSIVE      289 


5.  Over  a  dozen  members 
of  the  French  Senate  and 
Chamber  of  Deputies  .  .  . 
came  out  from  Paris  to  take 
in  the  spectacle  of  the  attack. 
.  .  .  But  I  do  know  that  by 
nightfall,  as  a  result  of  what 
they  saw  for  the  first  time  in 
their  lives — a  real  battle  of 
blood  and  steel — they  were 
all  in  a  mad  panic.  Through- 
out  the   day   they   had    fran- 


him  a  detailed  plan  for  the 
attack  of  the  French  right 
north  of  Rheims. 

Nevertheless  Nivelle  did 
not  modify  his  plans  in  this 
sector,  and  the  Germans, 
knowing  the  French  scheme, 
were  able  to  take  counter- 
measures  and  concentrate  a 
disastrous  cross-fire  on  the 
advancing  troops.  In  fact, 
through  this  incident,  the 
French  were  here  led  into  a 
regular  death-trap.  The  at- 
tack before  Craonne  and  the 
Chemin  des  Dames  began  at 
6  A.  M.  By  7:30  it  was  al- 
ready clear  that  success  was 
impossible.  The  attack  was 
not  stopped  by  political  inter- 
ferences, but  by  its  own 
failure. 

5.  The  party  included  M. 
Clemenceau,  the  present 
prime  minister,  whose  cour- 
age and  coolness  at  the 
front  are  notorious.  They 
were  in  an  observation  post 
near  Juvincourt,  and  the 
comparatively  little  they  saw 
of  the  battle  appeared  to 
be  progressing  satisfactorily. 
They  had  no  panic.  None 
of  them  telephoned  to   Paris 


290  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 


tically  telephoned  to  the  Gov- 
ernment in  Paris  that  the 
French  armies  were  being 
slaughtered  and  demanded 
that  the  offensive  just  under 
way  be  ordered  stopped. 


6.  The  offensive  did  not 
actually  cease  at  once,  but 
from  that  first  day  it  was  so 
hampered  by  political  inter- 
ference that  it  could  never 
again  get  into  its  stride. 
Yet,  despite  the  German 
order  to  resist  to  the  death 
in  the  first  line,  the  French 
had  by  nightfall  that  first  day 
taken  tlie  first  and  second 
German  lines. 


during  the  day.  The  only 
ones  who  returned  feeling 
anxious  were  those  who  saw 
Nivelle's  face  that  evening 
and  drew  ominous  conclu- 
sions from  it.  No  pressure 
was  exerted  on  the  Paris 
government,  and  there  was 
no  order  from  Paris  to  stop 
the  offensive. 

6.  According  to  Nivelle's 
own  plan,  the  offensive  must 
succeed  in  the  first  day  or 
not  at  all.  According  to 
the  program,  the  cavalry 
should  have  reached  Laon  the 
first  evening,  but  no  rupture 
took  place — the  attaque 
brusque  had  failed.  The 
question  of  political  inter- 
ference never  even  arose,  be- 
cause it  was  obvious  by  the 
first  night  that  the  rupture 
was  impossible.  The  attack 
was  stopped  in  the  sense  that 
a  man  is  stopped  when  he 
charges  a  concrete  wall. 
The  French  did  not  take  the 
first  and  second  German  lines. 
Along  two-thirds  of  the  front 
of  attack  they  took  only  the 
first  line,  demolished  by  artil- 
lery preparation,  and  were 
checked   by   the  German  fire 


THE  NIVELLE  OFFENSIVE      291 


7.  [Missing;  apparently 
elided     by     censor.] 

8.  [Missing;  apparently 
elided     by     censor.] 

9.  These  figures  (of  the 
losses)  were  54,000  wounded 
and  15,000  dead  for  the  en- 
tire period  of  nine  days  from 
the  beginning  of  the  attack. 
.  ,  .  These  heads  of  the 
French  Nation  went  back  to 
their  argument  for  stopping 
the  offensive  to  the  figures  of 
Godart — 95,000  wounded  and 
25,000  dead,  an  exaggeration 
of  over  70  per  cent. 


from  the  second  line,  the 
strength  of  which  had  been 
little  impaired.  To  continue 
the  attack  would  have  been 
nothing  short  of  suicidal. 
On  April  17  the  "offensive  of 
rupture"  conceived  by  Gen- 
eral Nivelle  was  stopped 
deliberately  by  himself. 
Henceforth  he  could  not 
hope  to  try  operations  the 
object  of  which  was  to  break 
the  German  line.  That  plan 
was  abandoned  in  favor  of  the 
local  operations  of  the  usual 
offensive,  and  the  dream  of 
breaking  through  to  the 
Meuse  had  vanished. 

7.  [Missing;  apparently 
elided    by     censor.] 

8.  [Missing;  apparently 
elided     by     censor.] 

9.  This  was  all  thrashed 
out  before  Parliamentary 
committees  and  in  secret  ses- 
sions of  the  Chamber  and 
Senate,  where  M.  Painleve 
won  almost  unanimous  ap- 
probation. The  proceedings 
are  a  matter  of  record,  and 
will  be  published  after  the 
war.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
the  official  figures  were  not 
underestimated.        Regarding 


292  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 


10.  [Missing;  apparently 
elided  by  censor.] 

11.  On  April  29,  Paul 
Painleve,  minister  of  war, 
sent  a  telegram  to  General 
Nivelle,  ordering  that  the  en- 
tire offensive  be  immediately 
stopped. 


12.  It    is    now    a    matter 
of     definite     knowledge — and 


the  killed,  the  author  of  the 
article  only  reread  the  docu- 
ments and  reports  that  have 
been  indiscreetly  shown  him. 
He  will  see  that  there  has 
been  cunningly  hidden  from 
him  [apparent  elision  by  cen- 
sor] out  of  the  column  of 
"missing,"  the  total  of  which 
was  out  of  proportion  to  the 
small  number  of  prisoners. 

10.  [Missing;  apparently 
elided  by  censor.] 

11.  No  such  telegram  was 
sent.  So  far  from  stopping 
the  offensive  action,  the  facts 
on  record  show  that  on  April 
30  began  the  brilliant  attacks 
of  Mont  Moronvilliers  and 
Mont  Cornillet,  which  con- 
tinued successfully  for  six 
days.  On  May  4  began  the 
attacks  on  Craonne  and  the 
Chemin  des  Dames,  which 
also  lasted  six  days  and  won 
for  France  Craonne  and  a 
great  part  of  the  Chemin  des 
Dames  along  an  eighteen- 
mile  front.  No  order  was  re- 
quired or  given  to  stop  the 
attempt  at  rupture,  as  it  had 
already  failed. 

12.  This  assertion  is  pure 
fantasy.     There    is    not    the 


CAPTAIN    GUYNEMER 


THE  NIVELLE  OFFENSIVE       293 


proof — that  on  that  day  the 
German  general  army  order 
was  to  prepare  immediately 
for  a  quick  retreat  to  the  line 
of  the  River  Meuse. 

13.  Lloyd  George  created 
what  may  be  called  a  scene 
in  his  remarks  to  the  French 
Government. 


14.  Before  this  April  16 
offensive  began,  the  Minister 
of  War  invited  nearly  all 
French  group  commanders  to 
Paris  to  discuss  and  criticise 
the  plans  of  offensive. 


15.  The  Minister  of  War 
sent  the  telegram  to  Nivelle 
ordering  the  offensive  to  cease 
after  Haig  and  England  had 


least  ground  for  supposing  or 
suggesting  anything  of  the 
kind. 


13.  Nothing  of  the  kind  oc- 
curred. This  conference  was 
indispensable  for  the  pur- 
pose of  readjusting  plans,  in 
view  of  the  failure  of  Ni- 
velle's  attempt  at  rupture. 

14.  An  ingenious  perver- 
sion of  the  truth!  At  the 
moment  of  assuming  office  on 
March  20,  M.  Painleve  nat- 
urally consulted  the  French 
war  chiefs — Nivelle  first  of 
all — with  regard  to  the  plans 
formulated  during  the  min- 
istry of  his  predecessor, 
Lyautey.  Not  to  do  so  would 
have  been  a  gross  dereliction 
of  duty  on  the  part  of  the 
new  minister.  The  differ- 
ences of  opinion  between 
Nivelle  and  the  Generals 
commanding  groups  were  al- 
ready known  to  insiders  be- 
fore M.  Painl eve's  accession 
to  the  ministry  of  war. 

15.  No  such  order  was  ever 
given,  and  the  offensive  did 
not  cease  at  all. 


294  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 


been   assured   that   it   would 
be  continued. 

16.  The  Minister  of  War 
stated  in  public  session  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  of  July 
7  that  "henceforth  the  French 
armies  would  seek  only  lim- 
ited objectives"  .  .  .  and  so, 
it  is  charged,  he  thus  gave 
public  and  official  notice  to 
Germany  that  from  that  date 
she  need  fear  nothing  of  im- 
portance from  France. 


17.  When  Paris  papers  of 


16.  Reference  to  the  min- 
ister's speech  kills  this  state- 
ment. M.  Painleve  did  say 
there  would  be  no  more  wild 
and  costly  attempts  to  break 
the  German  line.  He  did  say 
that  General  Petain  was  a 
wise  and  prudent  commander. 
His  declaration  was  that 
henceforth  the  activity  of  the 
French  armies  under  Petain 
would  be  as  energetic  as 
possible,  and  directed  by 
methods  that  would  be  sure 
to  be  fruitful  and  sparing  of 
human  lives.  Results  justify 
his  assertion,  notably  the  re- 
pulse of  the  German  attack 
on  the  Chemin  des  Dames  in 
July,  the  successful  partici- 
pation in  the  British  opera- 
tions in  the  Flanders  victory, 
the  operations  at  Verdun  in 
August,  which  retook  the  fa- 
mous Mort  Homme  and  Hill 
304,  and,  lastly,  the  splendid 
success  on  the  Aisne  Canal 
in  October,  where  the  total 
losses  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing  were  inferior  to  those 
of  April  18. 

17.  The  public  can  judge 


THE  NIVELLE  OFFENSIVE       295 


April  18  reached  Berlin,  the 
Germans  discovered,  to  their 
amazement,  that  panic  existed 
in  France. 


18.  The  conclusions  (of 
the  court-martial)  were  favor- 
able to  Generals  Nivelle  and 
Mangin. 


by  the  facts  the  exactness  of 
the  writer's  assertions.  It  is 
enough  to  read,  no  matter 
what  French  paper  you  see, 
that  the  operations  were 
everywhere  regarded  until 
the  end  of  April  as  a  brilliant 
victory.  One  could  offer  a 
prize  to  any  reader  who  would 
find  any  sign  of  panic  in  the 
French  newspapers  of  this 
period. 

18.  The  military  court  did 
not  wish  to  be  hard  on  fel- 
low-soldiers, who  had  tried  a 
big  enterprise  and  failed,  but 
the  result  of  their  inquiry  was 
that  Nivelle,  instead  of  be- 
ing generalissimo,  now  holds 
a  secondary  post  in  Africa, 
and  General  Mangin,  who  in 
April  commanded  an  army  of 
four  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand men,  no  longer  com- 
mands any  army. 


The  following  note  from  M.  Paul  Painleve,  for- 
mer Prime  Minister  of  France,  was  received  by 
"The  New  York  Times"  by  cable  on  February  4t 
last  and  transmitted,  as  requested,  to  the  editor  of 
"Corner's": 


296  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

Paris,  Feb.  3,  1918. 
To  the  Editor  of  "Collier's  Weekly:" 

Having  read  your  article  about  the  1917  offensive,  pub- 
lished Jan.  5,  I  desire  to  make  to  you  the  most  indignant 
protest.  In  it  there  is  not  one  statement  regarding  me, 
there  is  not  one  figure,  which  is  not  contrary  to  the  truth. 
When  it  will  be  possible  for  me  to  give  a  public  explanation 
I  will  prove  by  official  documents  the  vast  gulf  which  sepa- 
rates the  real  facts  from  the  monstrous  legend  which  your 
misplaced  confidence  has  accepted.  I  count  now  on  your 
sense  of  honor  to  publish  this  protest. 

Paul  Painleve. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

IN    CONCLUSION 

This  war  is  an  enormous  business.  It  needs  to 
be  studied  as  ordinary  big  businesses  are.  Henry 
Ford  once  told  me  that  one  of  the  problems  in  the 
Detroit  factory  to  which  he  gave  a  large  share  of 
his  personal  attention  was  that  of  individualized  ca- 
pacity. He  had  a  pretty  theory  which,  as  stated 
by  him,  lodged  in  my  mind  and  stayed  there,  that 
every  man  was  peculiarly  fitted  for  some  given 
task.  His  job  as  an  employer  was  to  find  what  a 
man  could  do  and  get  the  doing  out  of  him.  Men 
are  not  different  from  the  lower  animals.  Instincts 
or  abilities  are  specialized  in  each  breed  and  even 
in  the  individual  members  of  a  breed.  A  bird-dog 
that  performs  ideally  in  the  field  would  be  a  sad 
failure  trying  to  herd  sheep. 

If  there  were  a  score  of  Henry  Fords  studying 
the  millions  of  men  in  the  field  and  seeing  to  it  that 
they  were  drawn  out  on  the  side  of  their  bent,  the 
Fords  aforesaid  would  each  and  every  one  earn  the 
money  that  the  Detroit  member  of  the  family 
makes.  Nowhere  else  is  this  problem  quite  so  im- 
portant as  in  the  air  service.     This  service  attracts 

297 


298  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

the  venturing,  but  that  process  of  selection  is  too 
rough  to  stop  at ;  there  should  be  a  second  comb-out 
which  would  restore  to  other  services  all  except 
those  with  true  flying  instinct.  As  the  war  takes 
on  permanent  form  its  processes  are  standardized. 
The  ail' -man  becomes  more  and  more  true  to  type, 
but  there  is  still  a  haphazard  mixture  of  big,  strong 
infantrymen  with  the  air  forces,  and  high-strung, 
race-horse  types  in  the  trenches.  The  six-foot,  two- 
hundred  pounder,  who  as  an  infantry-man  would, 
if  lost,  find  his  way  home  with  a  Boche  under  each 
arm,  perhaps  lacks  the  nervous  organization  for 
quick  perception  and  action.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  sensitive,  feminine-looking  man,  who  could  make 
his  fifty  record  in  the  air,  might  die  of  nervous 
agony  in  the  funk-holes  and  on  the  firing-step. 

Let  me  illustrate  with  Georges  Guynemer.  I 
have  heard  soldiers  say  that  so  far  Guynemer  is  the 
greatest  soldier  of  the  war,  perhaps  of  any  war.  I 
never  saw  him  face  to  face,  much  to  my  regret. 
But  I  saw  his  performance  on  the  fourth  of  July 
when  he  was  flying  in  a  car,  chic  in  its  new  paint  and 
gaudy  in  its  French  colors.  He  was  cutting  capers 
over  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  as  the  newly  arrived 
American  troops  marched.  It  was  a  beautiful  and 
historic  sight.  Look  at  the  photograph  of  the  boy 
who  performed  marvels  in  air-fighting.  His  girlish 
face,  on  which  he  was  unable  to  raise  a  moustache, 
does  n't  at  all  suggest  the  soldier  in  the  old  sense, 


IN  CONCLUSION  299 

"bearded  like  the  pard."  What  if  such  genius  had 
been  sacrificed  in  the  mud  of  trench  warfare.  And 
yet  the  like  thing  is  being  done  everj^  day  through 
lack  of  that  kind  of  knowledge  which  only  long  ex- 
perience and  high  expertness  make  possible. 

I  have  recently  heard  a  story  that  sounds  like 
fiction,  but  it  came  from  a  good  source.  Some 
people  at  Compiegne,  the  family  home,  told  me  that 
Guynemer  was  carefully  examined  when  a  lad 
for  an  abnormal  heart,  and  the  doctor  found  that 
that  organ  was  singularly  like  a  bird's.  If  there 
be  such  a  thing  as  "bird-heart,"  it  is  a  good  disease 
for  air-men  to  have. 

Paris,  September  1, 1917.  In  to-day's  paper  the 
new  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  Kuehl- 
mami,  is  quoted  as  urging  the  Reichstag  to  study 
the  "psychology  of  our  enemies."  In  Switzerland 
I  was  told  that  this  is  a  subject  on  every  lip  in 
Germany.  When  two  or  three  people  meet  on  a 
street  corner  in  Berlin,  if  they  are  political  Olym- 
pians, the  talk  is  apt  to  di'ift  that  way.  They  dis- 
cuss it  as  "analytical  psychology"  and  approach  the 
subject  as  they  would  chemistry  or  physics. 

Of  course  the  proper  psychology  has  little  of 
the  analytical  or  intellectual  in  it.  It  is  largely  a 
matter  of  instinct.  Most  things  of  that  sort  in 
this  life  are  felt  rather  than  heard,  seen,  or  thought 
out.     We   detect   psychological   considerations   as 


300  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

cats  in  the  dark  detect  things  with  their  whiskers. 
We  use  something  that  corresponds  to  antennse  a 
great  deal  more  than  we  use  our  wits  or  our  brains. 
Who  would  ever  think  of  resorting  to  analysis  to 
determine  whether  a  certain  person  was  a  gentle- 
man? I  might  mention  a  hundred  parallels.  In 
two-thirds  of  all  our  activities  we  are  with  the  cat 
in  the  use  of  our  antennae. 

But  the  German  is  bare  of  this  delicate  hirsute 
mechanism.  He  is  obliged  to  refer  to  the  mind  all 
those  questions  which  with  human  beings — and  cats 
— are  answered  almost  subconsciously.  Perhaps  it 
is  a  vague  sense  of  his  own  deficiency  that  has  pro- 
voked the  German  into  an  absurd  affectation  on 
the  subject.  His  helplessness  in  the  field  of  psy- 
chology has  led  him  into  blunder  after  blunder  in 
all  his  dealings  with  the  world.  I  remember  asking 
Ambassador  Gerard  why  Germany  always  seemed 
so  clumsy  and  gauche  in  these  relations.  He  re- 
plied,    "They  overanalyze." 

Their  psychology,  however,  is  all  right  where  only 
they  themselves  are  concerned.  Nobody  there  goes 
by  feel.  All  through  the  trying  times  of  the  last 
three  years  the  leaders,  or  bosses,  have  set  out  the 
food  for  the  thought  of  the  Germans  precisely  as 
if  their  minds  were  their  stomachs.  The  kaiser, 
Bethmann,  Hindenburg,  and  Ludendorff  have  reg- 
ulated the  whole  matter  by  laborious  prearrange- 
ment.     The  press   is  controlled  with  meticulous 


IN  CONCLUSION  301 

care.  A  committee  which,  I  understand,  is  com- 
posed of  a  navy  man,  an  army  man,  and  a  civilian, 
meets  daily  and  prescribes  policy  by  the  dose. 
There  is  also  a  large  program,  covering  a  month  at 
a  time,  that  is  made  up  by  the  higher  authorities. 

For  example,  it  might  have  been  decreed  that  in 
July  the  press  should  only  soft-pedal  on  submarine 
sinkings,  playing  up  instead  the  Russian  collapse 
and  assurance  of  future  food  supply  through  the 
conquest  of  Bessarabia.  "Let 's  keep  the  U-boat 
until  August  or  September,  when  the  public  may 
stand  in  greater  need  of  buoying  up,"  might  be  the 
line  of  the  policy  laid  down.  They  utilize  every- 
thing in  psychology,  as  in  the  recovery  of  fats  from 
the  gruesome  offal  of  battle-fields.  In  the  present 
Government  Kuehlmann  is  the  high  priest  of  the 
school  of  philosophy  which  I  have  here  expounded. 
It  may  be  remarked  that  his  unctuously  pious 
phrases  have  produced  shouts  of  derision  among  his 
old  associates  in  diplomacy  in  London  and  else- 
where. His  choice  of  a  role  is  quite  the  funniest 
incident  in  the  whole  opera  bouffe  performance  of 
Berlin  diplomacy. 

From  Munich  come  reports  of  acute  reaction 
against  Pan-Germanism.  It  is  said  that  talk  of 
prosecuting  the  war  with  a  view  of  annexation,  in- 
demnity, and  world-conquest,  if  indulged  in  by  any 
one,  is  bitterly  resented.  Prevailing  opinion  in 
Munich  is  for  peace  with  a  whole  skin.     In  fact, 


302  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FROXT 

even  a  slight  loss  of  epidermis  could  be  borne  with 
patience  in  the  Bavarian  capital. 

It  is  said  that  the  great  university  of  democracy 
of  Germany  is  in  the  trenches.  All  sources  of  in- 
formation agree  as  to  the  democratization  of  the 
German  Army.  When  the  common  soldier  is  no 
longer  in  the  strait- jacket  of  military  discipline  he 
is  going  to  be  a  convinced  antagonist  of  the  brutal 
system  of  putting  millions  of  men  face  to  face  with 
suffering  and  death  through  no  wish  of  their  own 
and  for  purposes  which,  as  far  as  they  understand, 
do  not  even  remotely  concern  them.  I  have  an 
echo  of  this  idea  in  a  letter  from  a  clear-thinking 
American. 

It  is  a  terrible  discredit  to  the  intelligence  of  this  genera- 
tion that  a  war  such  as  the  present  one  must  be  continued  at 
such  cost.  Stilly  I  suppose  it  is  necessary  and  must  be  con- 
tinued until  each  of  the  nations  involved  has  put  itself  in 
such  a  position  that  it  can  speak  effectively  as  a  nation  con- 
cerning its  foreign  relations.  This,  of  course,  is  already 
possible  in  the  United  States,  France,  and  England,  and,  I 
assume,  in  Italy.  I  fancy  it  would  be  a  very  simple  matter 
to  make  it  so  in  fact  in  Austria  and  Hungary,  but  apparently 
the  German  people  as  a  nation  still  have  no  determining 
voice  concerning  their  foreign  policy. 

It  seems  strange,  and  is  criminal,  that  a  small  group  of 
people  in  a  nation  like  Germany  should  be  responsible  for 
the  continuation  of  the  war,  because,  as  I  view  the  matter, 
if  Germany  should  put  itself  in  a  position  where  the  Gov- 
ernment was  responsible  to  the  Reichstag,  there  would  be 
no    real    obstacle    in    the    way    of    peace.     Possibly,   if    that 


IN  CONCLUSION  303 

matter  could  be  brought  home  to  the  German  people,  it  might 
help  bring  about  an  early  understanding.  In  the  meantime, 
of  course,  there  is  only  one  thing  to  do,  and  in  the  foot-ball 
parlance  it  is  "to  stoop  low  and  hit  the  center  hard,"  and 
that  is  what  we  are  trying  to  do  over  here  at  the  present 
time.  I  believe  that  every  one  feels  that  the  harder  we 
hit,  the  sooner  will  the  war  be  over. 

I  read  the  above  paragraph  to  one  of  the  best- 
informed  men  in  Paris,  and  he  said : 

*'It  is  curious  what  a  center  shot  your  cor- 
respondent makes  in  quoting  the  foot-ball  phrase. 
That  is  precisely  what  Haig  is  doing  in  Flanders, 
Petain  at  Verdun,  and  Cadorna  around  Trieste, 
stooping  low  and  hitting  the  center  hard.  That  is 
precisely  what  America  should  do.  There  is,  no 
doubt,  a  particular  center  which  would  feel  the  im- 
pact of  her  blow,  and  she  has  a  titanic  striking 
power.  If  we  hammer  hard  and  all  together  we 
will  make  Germany  reel." 

Paris,  March  16.  I  have  received  inside  in- 
formation calling  renewed  attention  to  the  sub- 
marine situation.  There  has  been  too  much  op- 
timistic generalizing  on  this  subject.  I  am  urged 
by  expert  authorities  to  point  out  to  America  con- 
stantly how  useless  will  be  all  her  strength  and  how 
utterly  hopeless  all  her  plans  for  defeating  Ger- 
many unless  the  submarine  is  mastered.  And  it 
is  not  mastered  yet.  For  eight  months  I  have  been 
digging  out,  and  by  hook  or  crook  getting  censors 


304  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

to  pass  to  America,  tonnage  figures  on  submarine 
sinkings.  Public  appreciation  there  of  the  serious- 
ness of  this  phase  of  the  war  has  constituted  a 
driving  force  to  increase  the  effort  in  building  de- 
stroyers and  shipping.  But  twice  as  much  tonnage 
was  sunk  in  1917  as  was  built.  The  year  1918 
therefore  opened  with  an  accumulated  deficit.  It 
is  safe  to  say  that  if  we  had  twice  the  tonnage  actu- 
ally possessed  by  the  Allies  to-day  we  should  still 
be  far  short  of  supplying  Europe's  needs  and  trans- 
porting the  American  army. 

All  estimates  about  the  future  are  vitiated  by  the 
element  of  speculation.  After  a  year  of  sinking 
twice  the  tonnage  that  was  constructed  we  are  still 
losing  more  than  we  are  building.  Optimists 
sharpen  their  pencils  and  figiu-e  on  a  certainty  of 
construction  overtaking  the  destruction  by  next 
June,  and  then  unexpectedly  British  labor  develops 
some  strange  distemper  that  slows  down  results  in 
the  shipyards.  I  am  reliably  informed  that  the 
hours  necessary  to  produce  a  given  unit  have  in- 
creased since  the  war  in  the  proportion  of  eight  to 
thirteen.  There  are  so  many  possibilities  in  the 
submarine  field  that  all  estimates  should  have  a 
liberal  margin  of  safety.  The  Germans  may  up- 
set the  present  naval  balance  by  transferring  their 
[Baltic  forces,  released  by  the  Russian  collapse,  to 
the  North  Sea  and  the  Atlantic,  thus  crippling  the 
convoy  system  and  increasing  the  loss  by  subma- 


IN  CONCLUSION  305 

rines.  Or  they  may  make  their  U-boats  larger  and 
more  of  them.  The  field  of  invention  is  as  open  to 
them  as  it  is  to  us. 

The  submarine  situation  should  be  opened  up 
and  dealt  with  frankly  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean. 
Much  of  the  trouble  now  experienced  in  England 
with  labor  and  war  weariness  is  due  to  ill-advised 
concealment   about   the   submarine.     Democracies 
can  fight  best  when  they  know  the  worst.     Political 
coddling    produces     enfeeblement.     For    months 
London  has  been  more  concerned  about  stopping 
the  air  raids  than  beating  the  submarines.     Remiss- 
ness with  the  Government  is  a  more  potent  force 
than  righteous  indignation  against  Germany  or  the 
firm  resolve  to  win  at  all  hazards.     In  a  word,  we 
deny  in  practice  the  very  principle  of  pubhcity  that 
we  are  fighting  this  war  to  vindicate  and  establish. 
The  leaders  here  who  are  bearing  the  burden  of 
this  war  are  anxious  for  America  to  understand 
and  keep  steadily  in  mind  that,  whatever  may  hap- 
pen in  any  arena,  the  submarine  remains  the  bull's- 
eye  at  which  allied  effort  must  be  aimed.     As- 
suming that  the  western  front  can  be  held  for  the 
time  being,  as  asserted  by  General  Foch  and  other 
authorities,   Germany  can  be  defeated  mihtarily, 
despite  her  eastern  conquests,  by  swift  and  effective 
measures     against     the     submarine.     Germany's 
strategy  is  conceived  with  a  view  to  diverting  pop- 
ular interest  to  other  and  comparatively  irrelevant 


306  FLASHES  FROM  THE  FRONT 

matters,  like  air  raiding,  while  the  silent  U-boats 
cut  the  allied  jugular.  With  the  western  line  hold- 
ing intact,  the  problem  chiefly  is  one  of  sustaining 
the  life  of  the  European  Allies  and  transporting  an 
American  army  strong  enough  to  deal  the  death- 
blow to  Prussia.  The  extent  to  which  America  is 
relied  on  for  the  extinction  of  the  submarine  may 
be  judged  from  the  expectation  generally  enter- 
tained that  the  United  States  from  now  on  will  con- 
tribute nearly  three-fourths  of  the  new  construction. 
Until  now  preliminary  preparations  have  largely 
absorbed  American  effort,  but  henceforth  shipping 
is  expected  in  such  quantity  from  the  American 
yards  as  to  restore  normal  conditions  within  six 
months,  and  assured  transport  thereafter. 


AMERICA'S  FORHGN 
REUTIONS 

By  Willis  Fletcher  Johnson 

Author  of  "A  Century  of  Expansion,"  etc 

A  non-technical,  though  studiously  accurate,  narrative  designed  to 
give  the  average  lay  citizen  a  clear  understanding  of  topics  which  are 
among  the  most  important  and  the  most  neglected  in  all  our  national 
annals. 

A  history  of  the  foreign  relations  of  the  United  States,  the  origin 
and  development  of  our  international  relationships,  and  the  principles 
of  our  international  policy.  The  author  traces  the  developments  pro- 
duced by  our  early  wars,  our  share  in  the  opening  of  the  Orient,  the 
position  of  Europe  towards  our  Civil  War,  our  colonial  expansion,  our 
difficulties  with  British  America,  the  war  with  Spain,  our  various  dealings 
with  Latin  America,  and  every  other  aspect  of  our  international  relation- 
ships to  the  present  day. 

The  New  York  Times  says :  "His  book  is  candid,  impartial,  detailed, 
and  vividly  interesting.  It  is  the  result  of  a  lifetime  of  scholarly  research, 
and  in  its  presentation  has  the  purpose  of  popularity,  in  the  admirable 
sense  of  that  much-abused  word;  it  has  the  material  and  the  intention 
to  be  of  real  value,  and  it  succeeds  in  its  aim.  The  author  tells  us  not 
only  what  our  foreign  relations  have  been  but  what  manner  of  men 
have  been  intrusted  with  the  shaping  of  those  relations.  We  may  per- 
haps note  that  the  book  is  especially  interesting  in  its  tracing  of  the 
development  of  our  relations  with  Great  Britain." 

Royal  octavo,  two  vols.;  1000  pages, 

with  appendixes,  index,  and 

16  illustrations 

Price  $6,00  net,  boxed 

At  All  Bookstores   TUC    PFlMTf  TRY   C(\     353  Fourth  Avenue 
Published  by     inEi    VEillIUIVl     \AJ.  New  York  City 


AMERICA  AFTER 
THE  WAR 

By  An  American  Jurist 


Must  America  have  a  dictator?  Must  she  annex  Canada,  Mexico, 
Central  America,  the  West  Indies?  Must  she  maintain  a  huge  standing 
army  and  a  powerful  navy?  Tremendous  war-born  changes  are  in 
progress,  and  more  are  to  come.  Alert  Americans  will  begin  preparing 
themselves  now  for  adjustment  or  conflict. 

This  book  is  made  up  of  those  special  articles  contributed  to  The 
New  York  Times  which  drew  excited  comment  from  an  amazed  Europe. 
Far-sighted  American  readers  who  now  have  the  opportunity  of  reading 
them  all  together  and  so  catching  the  full  force  of  the  author's  audacity, 
logic  and  vision  in  one  unified  impression  will  be  even  more  astounded. 

The  author,  who  for  reasons  that  cannot  now  be  revealed,  is  remain- 
ing anonymous,  draws  a  tentative  sketch  of  what  America  will  look  like 
after,  and  as  a  result  of,  the  war.  He  sees  a  great  centralization  of  power 
at  Washington,  with  the  vast  subsidiary  changes  which  that  means  all 
over  the  country.  He  sees  radical  readjustments  with  Mexico,  Canada, 
and  the  West  Indies,  and  the  powerful  Pacific  countries;  a  huge  stand- 
ing army  and  a  great  navy ;  possible  financial  stress  and  industrial  unrest ; 
a  straining  of  democracy  that  may  not  hold.  No  patriotic  American  can 
afford  to  miss  this  book. 

IGtno,    208  pages 
Price  $1.00 

At  All  Bookstores   TOr    rTNTITPY    C(\      353  Fourth  Avenue 
Published  by     *  "Ei    V^Eiil  I  UIVl     KAJ*  New  York  City 


THE  NEW  MAP 
OF  EUROPE 

By  Herbert  Adams  Gibbons 

Author  of  "The  New  Map  of  Africa,"  etc 


Not  prophecy  Not  propaganda.  Not  ancient  history.  But  an  im- 
partial, dramatic  account  of  the  history  of  the  ten  tremendous  years 
leading  up  to  the  titanic  War  of  the  Ten  Nations.  Shows  the  exact 
bearing  of  each  crisis  and  incident  from  the  Kaiser's  famous  visit  to 
Morocco  in  1905  up  to  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  in  August,  1914. 

As  a  trained  newspaper  correspondent  stationed  for  years  in  the  very 
storm-center  of  Europe,  Mr.  Gibbons  had  unusual  opportunities  to  see 
the  war  in  the  making.  As  a  student  and  professor  of  history,  he  had 
the  scientific  background  and  equipment  for  a  fair  and  clear  interpreta- 
tion of  what  he  saw.  Beginning  to  write  as  the  war  began,  his  narra- 
tive style  inevitably  took  on  the  rushing  swiftness  and  the  thrilling  large- 
ness of  the  colossal  events  then  sweeping  down  upon  the  world. 

OctovOf  412  pages,  6  double  maps 
Price  $2,00 

At  All  Bookstores    TUC    fFlMTITPY    CCi      353  Fourth  Avenue 
Published  by     *  "*-•    ^l-«n  1  UIV  I     \AJ»  New  York  City 


THE  NEW  MAP 
OF  AFRICA 

By  Herbert  Adams  Gibbons 

Author  of  "The  New  Map  of  Europe,"  etc 


This  new  book  does  for  Africa  what  the  author's  immensely  success- 
ful "The  New  Map  of  Europe"  did  for  that  continent— that  is,  it  gives 
the  history,  especially  on  the  diplomatic  side,  of  the  crucial  years  from 
1899  to  the  great  war  as  they  affected  Africa.  Necessarily  the  author 
also  glances  at  African  affairs  before  1899,  as  far  back  as  1850,  and 
considers  the  future  of  that  rich  and  coveted  continent.  "The  New  Map 
of  Africa"  covers  a  field  as  yet  untouched,  in  compact  form,  in  any 
language. 

Africa  offers  to  the  overcrowded,  ambitious,  and  powerful  European 
nations  their  nearest  and  otherwise  most  available  field  of  expansion  and 
commercial  exploitation;  but  the  nations  have  by  no  means  been  agreed 
as  to  who  should  take  what.  The  military  and  diplomatic  movements  of 
the  contesting  countries,  as  recorded  and  interpreted  by  Mr.  Gibbons, 
make  a  book  as  interesting  as  it  is  historically  important. 

Octovo,  550  pages,  6  maps 
Price  $2,00 

At  All  Bookstores   TU17    rCMTITUV   C(\      353  Fourth  Avenue 
Published  by     InLLLPllUllI     \M.  New  York  City 


THE  REBUILDING 
OF  EUROPE 

By  David  Jayne  Hill 

Former  Ambassador  to  Germany 

In  which  tjys  eminent  jurist  traces  the  development  among  European 
races  of  divergent  philosophical  ideals  of  government  and  their  relation 
to  the  present  world  conflagration.  At  once  a  scholarly  presentation  of 
past  faiths  and  a  brilliant  forecast  of  a  possible  internationalism  which 
may  rise  frora  their  ashes. 

Mr.  Hill  points  out  the  gradual  transference  of  sovereignty  from 
state  to  people,  and  its  effect  upon  the  people's  relation  to  the  war.  Not 
since  the  Crusaders  battled  for  the  Christian  faith  has  there  been  waged 
a  war  so  fund^nentally  abstract  in  its  goal.  Two  conflicting  philosophic 
principles — imperialism  and  democracy — are  engaged  in  a  life  and  death 
struggle.  WitSa  brilliant  reasoning  and  a  wealth  of  philosophic  authority 
Mr.  Hill  analyzes  the  strength  and  weakness  of  either  cause. 

David  Jayne  Hill,  former  university  professor  and  one  of  the  most 
experienced  A^aerican  diplomatists,  writes  out  of  the  fulness  of  intimate 
study  of  the  goHtical  ideals  of  Europe.  He  has  served  as  minister  to 
republican  Sw^zerland,  and  democratic  Netherlands,  and  as  ambassador 
to  the  German  Empire. 

12mo,  250  pages 
Price  $1.50 


^'^^uM-^rrc  THE  CENTURY  CO. 


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New  York  City 


RUSSIA  IN 
UPHEAVAL 

By  Edward  Alsworth  Ross 

Author  of  "South  of  Panama,"  etc 

Many  writers  have  pictured  Russia  in  the  throes  of  revolution,  but 
there  is  probably  no  Uving  American  so  well  prepared  as  Professor  Ross 
to  present,  not  only  the  revolution  itself,  but  its  origins  in  the  past  and  its 
probable  results  in  the  future.  The  brilliant  Wisconsin  sociologist,  whose 
previous  books  have  so  inimitably  touched  into  life  the  problems  of 
South  America,  the  Changing  Chinese,  and  our  own  population,  was 
traveling  through  Russia,  with  every  facility  for  the  most  intimate 
observation,  during  the  greater  part  of  Russia's  red  year.  He  visited  not 
only  Petrograd  and  Moscow,  but  also  the  Volga,  the  Caucasus,  Turkestan, 
and  Siberia.  "Russia  in  Upheaval"  is  the  ripe  harvest  of  these  varied 
experiences.  It  discusses  the  Overthrow  of  Autocracy,  the  New  Free- 
dom in  Russia,  Soil  Hunger  and  Land  Redistribution,  Labor  and  Capital 
in  Russia,  the  Casting  Out  of  Vodka,  Russian  Women  and  Their  Outlook, 
the  Church  and  the  Sects,  the  Cooperative  Movement  in  Russia,  the 
Zemstvos  and  How  They  Built  a  State  Within  a  State,  and  the  Future 
Emigration  from  Russia. 

Octavo,  300  pages,  80  illustrations 
Price  $2.S0 

At  All  Bookstores   'TXTC    rTWTITDY   C(\     353  Fourth  Avenue 
Published  by     lllEi    VEilliUIVi     VAJ.  New  York  City 


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